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That's true, but Agreed Statements of Fact rarely put the nail in the coffin. If it is that important it would likely be argued over and not admitted without a fight.

I haven't followed this case as intently as I followed the Bosma and Babcock cases but this one seems to have reasonable doubt written all over it. Too bad, I wish they had been able to present more credible evidence but as long as his appeals are all dismissed DM will never be released anyway.

I believe that jurors usually get it right but I'm not tied to the jury system. I understand that there are only 20 countries in the world that use juries. I have not seen any evidence to suggest that juries are better than judge alone or better than other systems such as the inquisitorial...

I don't disagree with you I principle but I think it is different in practice. As you know, in Canada we do not have the luxury of knowing what happens inside the jury room but based on descriptions of what occurs south of the border and assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that the human dynamics...

I think that the confusion arises over the meaning of reasonable doubt. It is a very complex concept as is evidenced by the fact that judges improperly enunciating the concept of reasonable doubt is probably the most common reason for successful appeals of jury verdicts. There are a number of...

If WM had a valid Will then the Will would outline who receives his Estate. Without a valid Will the Succession Reform Act would give his estate to his children. If no children then grandchildren. If none then parents. If no parents, then siblings. If no siblings then nieces an nephews.

I am quite surprised that there were no questions given the length of the charge and the complexities of the trial itself. In my experience, juries usually if not always come back with questions. A possible explanation is that they had no difficulty with the law and they were just struggling...

A different Judge for sure, but there is nothing preventing the same Crowns from prosecuting him again.

Juries have an uncanny ability to get it right, despite everything that may be kept from them.

Does DM have somewhere else he needs to be? He is likely hoping to avoid the tongue lashing that Justice Code is preparing for him. A coward, right to the end. As for his smirk, I have no problem with him smirking as long as he gets 50 years of parole ineligibility I know its petty, but I...

I'm shocked that a successful lawyer would be implicated in such a serious breach of ethics but at the same time I accept that there appears to be insufficient evidence to prove that he actually did it and we should take care to afford him the same presumption of innocence that we are all...

M1 carries a mandatory 25 years without parole so the only discretion Justice Code has is consecutive or concurrent. Even if he goes concurrent, I doubt either of these guys will ever be released.

If there was any doubt about who the jury was debating for their verdicts, that recommendation should resolve it. All 12 recommended consecutive for DM!

You may well be correct but hung juries are actually fairly rare in Canada. The Judge won't let them leave until it is absolutely clear that a verdict cannot be reached. The pressure that must be put on to the holdouts in that jury room cannot be underestimated. That being said, with...

It's a defence lawyer's job to do everything that they can, as long as it is both legal and ethical to create that often elusive 'reasonable doubt' for their client. This includes exploiting errors and 'loopholes' in the Crown's case. I do object to the term loophole though because it implies...

I'm hardly an expert, but I have conducted a few jury trials over the years, but I'm out of it now and following along just like everyone else here.

I do find it unusual that there have not yet been any questions in a complex case where the Judge's instructions took 3 days to deliver. There are plenty of possible explanations. Perhaps its a really smart jury or Justice Code's delivery was impeccable and they are all clear as mud and have...

We're traveling kind of far down the road now but if DM is convicted of M1 and the jury hangs on MS and the Crown retries him, it would be a brand new trial with different considerations because DM would no longer be there and it is entirely possible that the new judge with different...

Definitely.

While obviously an acquittal is a possibility I just can't imagine all 12 jurors agreeing to acquit MS unless they somehow conclude that LB is still live in which case DM would have to be cited as well. I think the best MS can realistically hope for is a hung jury.