A judge’s inadequate instructions to a Saskatoon jury in 2015 are grounds for a new manslaughter trial, according to a decision from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Michael Robertson was charged with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Rocky Genereaux. Robertson was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter in June 2016.
Robertson testified he acted in self-defence after Genereaux became agitated, claimed to have HIV and lunged at him with a needle. The pair were in a confrontation over a broken BlackBerry device.
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In the appeal, Robertson’s lawyer argued the judge misdirected the jury by failing to explain how it should respond if the Crown couldn’t disprove self-defence.
The judge “repeatedly provided inconsistent and confusing instructions about the verdict that must flow from a finding that self-defence had not been disproved,” reads the higher court’s decision.
If Robertson acted in lawful self-defence, he should have been acquitted of manslaughter as well as murder, according to the appellate judges.
Jurors did not receive a written copy of the judge’s instructions.
“In this case, the misdirection that resulted from the trial judge’s misstatements on the issue of self-defence was potentially significant,” the decision reads.
The trial concluded on a Wednesday afternoon and by the following morning, jurors stated they were at an impasse. Encouraged to “re-apply themselves,” the jury reached a unanimous verdict nearly three hours later.
Because Robertson was acquitted of second-degree murder, his new trial will only be for manslaughter.
He remains in custody and no trial dates have been set.
-With files from Dave Giles and Joel Senick.
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