A mistrial has been declared in the second-degree murder retrial for Dennis Oland.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Terrence Morrison announced the ruling on Tuesday morning and dismissed the 16 jury members.
Morrison says there were “improprieties” during the jury selection process of which the Crown was unaware of.
During a hearing last week, the defence argued Saint John police Const. Sean Rocca, who was sitting with the Crown during jury selection, was screening potential jurors using the force’s internal database.
The system tracks any contact a person may have had with the police force.
Defence lawyers said none of the information discovered by the officer was disclosed to them and the appearance of fairness had been compromised.
Alan Gold says the judge’s decision to declare a mistrial was due to “improper police conduct” during the jury selection process. pic.twitter.com/ujPWjOWovl
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) November 20, 2018
In a written decision, Morrison said the Supreme Court of Canada has “in no uncertain terms … condemned the practice of using police databases” to determine juror eligibility outside legitimate criminal record checks.
He said although there is no evidence the information was given to the Crown, the jury selection process has been “irreparably” tainted.
It was also revealed the same internal police database was used during jury selection for Oland’s first trial in 2015.
Speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s ruling, defence lawyer Alan Gold said a gross unfairness was committed upon Oland and the defence by what he calls “improper police conduct”.
“In 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that the privacy of jurors disallowed police database searches into the private lives of jurors in order to find any and all contacts they may have had with the police,” Gold said.
“Perhaps fortune has smiled on us. It’s kind of a sad smile,” Gold says when asked about today’s decision.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) November 20, 2018
Gold said they are pleased the judge has agreed to allow the trial to go ahead without a jury because starting over with a brand new jury panel would have delayed it by several months.
“All Dennis and his family want is a fair trial as soon as possible, without further delay, a trial at which they are confident of Dennis finally being vindicated and his innocence declared.”
The trial will now continue by judge alone starting Wednesday, and Gold the 16-week timeline will be shortened somewhat since there is no jury.
