A former Toronto pastor convicted of manslaughter in connection with the drowning of his 29-year-old pregnant wife in a bathtub in 2011 has been granted a new trial.
An appeal was launched after Philip Grandine was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the death of his wife.
Karissa Grandine was found dead in the bathtub of the couple’s Scarborough home on Oct. 17, 2011. She was five months pregnant with the couple’s first child.
“The family is extremely disappointed by the decision. They will have to relive the whole thing over again,” Cliff McDowell, a longtime friend of Karissa Grandine told Global News.
“It’s going to be difficult and stressful.”
An autopsy found she was drugged with a sedative known as Lorazepam causing her to drown.
He was later charged with first-degree murder. Grandine, who was 25 at the time of his wife’s death, originally told police he had gone for a run that evening and returned to find his wife unconscious in the tub.
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A jury reached a verdict of manslaughter following two days of deliberations in 2014.
Grandine’s lawyers said during an appeal hearing in April that the trial judge made an error in law when answering a question posed by the jury during deliberations which they say affected the outcome of the verdict.
READ MORE: Appeal hearing underway for ex-pastor convicted in death of pregnant wife
It is alleged that during deliberations, Justice Robert Clark’s answer introduced a “new path” for the jury to convict Grandine on manslaughter even if he did not administer the drug Lorazepam.
Grandine’s lawyer Michael Lacy said this was a “miscarriage of justice and undermined the fairness of the trial.” The Crown disagreed saying Justice Clark’s answer was “legally correct.”
The Ontario Court of Appeal decision released on Friday cited the trial judge’s answer “introduced a new theory of liability inconsistent with how the trial had proceeded.”
“The family is extremely disappointed by the decision. They will have to relive the whole thing over again, for example hearing the 911 tapes again. It’s going to be difficult and stressful.”
READ MORE: Sentence handed down for ex-pastor convicted in death of pregnant wife
The court heard during the trial that Grandine was having an affair with one of his parishioners, Elaine Florentino, at the time of the Karissa Grandine’s death and the prosecution alleged he drugged his wife so he could continue on with the relationship.
Florentino testified during the trial that her relationship with the former pastor continued after his wife’s death but ended in January 2012.
VIDEO: Jury finds pastor guilty of manslaughter
With a file from Catherine McDonald
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