Martin Latour

The Court allowed the Crown appeal and restored a second degree murder conviction, holding the provocation defence lacked an air of reality on this record and that jury charge errors were either minor or cured by overwhelming evidence under the curative proviso.

The appellant was convicted of first degree murder at trial.

The Court of Appeal set aside the conviction due to a fatally flawed jury charge and substituted a conviction for second degree murder.

The Supreme Court of Canada agreed that the jury charge was flawed, specifically regarding the strict causation requirement under s. 231(5) of the Criminal Code.

However, the Court held that the Court of Appeal erred in substituting a verdict, as another verdict might be reasonable.

A new trial on the original indictment for first degree murder was ordered.

The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada to quash his guilty pleas, arguing they resulted from the undue influence of his counsel.

The Court allowed the appeal, adopting the dissenting reasons of Bisson J.A. in the Court of Appeal, and quashed the guilty pleas.