The accused was acquitted by a jury of second-degree murder after advancing a defence of non-mental disorder automatism.
The trial judge, on his own initiative, also left the defence of self-defence to the jury, despite weak evidence.
The Crown appealed the acquittal, arguing the trial judge erred in putting self-defence to the jury.
The Court of Appeal set aside the acquittal and ordered a new trial.
The accused appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and restored the acquittal, holding that the Crown failed to discharge its heavy burden to show that the trial judge's error might reasonably be thought to have had a material bearing on the acquittal.
