Dr. Milroy

The Crown applied for a lengthy adjournment of the accused's first-degree murder trial, citing the recent exclusion of a key expert witness, voluminous late disclosure from a third-party records application, and a newly received forensic pathology report.

The court rejected the request for a lengthy delay to replace the excluded expert evidence, noting the accused's right to a timely trial after 38 months of investigation.

However, the court granted a short adjournment of one month to allow the parties to review the late disclosure and the new pathology report.

The accused was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, who died from severe burn injuries and had suffered extensive prior abuse.

During pre-trial motions, the court ruled on the admissibility of two statements the accused made to police and the admissibility of prior discreditable conduct evidence.

The court found both the December 6 and December 11 statements were voluntary and that the accused's Charter rights were not violated.

The court also ruled that evidence of the accused's prior discreditable conduct, including evidence that he had shot the victim with a pellet gun 29 times, was highly probative of his animus, motive, and state of mind, and its probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect.