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A mistrial has been declared in the first-degree murder trial of Calvin Nimoh, the 24-year-old accused of stabbing Toronto cancer researcher Dr. Mark Ernsting to death while he was out for a walk near his Carlton Street condominium in 2015.
The unexpected development came on day two of the trial after Justice David McCombs learned information was introduced to the jury that was not heard inside the courtroom.
Furthermore, the information was false and was circulated amongst the jurors despite the explicit instructions from McCombs on Tuesday to not do any outside research on the case on the internet or watch any media coverage of the trial.
As a result, a mistrial was declared on the consent of all counsel.
On Tuesday, Nimoh tried to plead guilty to manslaughter. He admitted he killed Ernsting on Dec. 15, 2015, but pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Crown Attorney Michael Cantlon rejected the manslaughter plea and told the jury their task was not to determine who killed Ernsting, but why.
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The 12 members of the jury were dismissed at around noon on Wednesday. Det. Paul Worden, who has led the investigation, told Global News the family of Ernsting was visibly shaken at the result.
“The emotional cost, the time cost — it’s very concerning. Everybody was really frustrated that it had to come to this,” Worden said.
“In fairness to the accused, we knew it had to be done. The deceased’s husband was in the courtroom. The deceased’s family, they were devastated.”
Jury selection for the retrial is expected to begin on Thursday with opening arguments expected to start as early as Friday.
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