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Accused killer in Quebec to be released due to Crown delays

A judge has stayed the second-degree murder proceedings against Van Son Nguyen Friday after he ruled delays in his trial violated a 2016 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, Friday, May 19, 2017. Andrew Unangst / Getty Images

Another person charged with murder in Quebec is set to be released due to unreasonable legal delays.

A judge stayed the second-degree murder proceedings against Van Son Nguyen Friday after he ruled delays in his trial violated a 2016 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada.

READ MORE: Quebec’s clogged courts need culture change, say lawyers, academics

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The country’s highest court ruled legal proceedings cannot exceed 18 months in provincial courts and 30 months in Superior Court in order to respect a citizen’s right to be tried within a reasonable period of time.

Nguyen, 52, is a U.K. citizen and was still awaiting trial 55 months after being charged.

He was charged with allegedly stabbing a man 34 times with a machete in a home that housed an illegal marijuana grow-op.

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Nguyen is not a Canadian citizen and can therefore be deported to Britain rather than be released in Canada.

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