But one criminal expert says mistrial applications should be made – and accepted – to get the cases back on track at the Superior Court level before the inevitable happens.
“I expect the Court of Appeal will be sending each and every one of these cases back for a new trial,” said Michael Spratt, an Ottawa defence lawyer and host of the The Docket, a Canadian legal podcast.
Instead of wasting time and money in costly appeals, Spratt said judges should be ordering new trials right away and “at least it would be in a more timely manner.”
“That’s in everyone’s interest because witnesses and evidence, unlike fine wine, doesn’t really get better with age.”
Spratt said the Court of Appeal has been very cautious in its past rulings concerning juries and “it seems that even the smallest problem is going to result in a new trial.”
Spratt was one of several legal experts who appeared before the parliamentary committee that drafted the law and warned about the defects, including the lack of a transitional clause explaining how the changes would be introduced.
[…]
Read Jane Sims full article: London Free Press