The accused, Roger Craig Short, facing a third trial for first-degree murder, brought several pretrial applications, including one to preclude the Crown from using his testimony from the second trial.
The Crown also brought applications, such as for leave to call more than five expert witnesses and to admit evidence of prior discreditable conduct and post-offence conduct.
The court granted leave for additional expert witnesses, ruled on the admissibility and editing of statements to persons in authority and a reporter, and determined the scope of prior discreditable conduct and post-offence conduct evidence.
Crucially, the court exercised its common law exclusionary power to prevent the Crown from cross-examining the accused on his second trial testimony, finding that the previous trial judge's error in forcing counsel to continue, coupled with counsel's inadequacies, created a miscarriage of justice and undermined trial fairness.
