HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has ruled a 50-year-old man charged with the first-degree murder of his wife is fit to stand trial before a jury, despite a gunshot wound to his head that has caused some amnesia.
Judge Glen McDougall ruled Friday that he would not ask a jury if Wayne Paul Eisnor is fit to stand trial.
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The judge said Eisnor may not be able to relate details of the events involving his wife, but that alone shouldn’t prevent him from going to trial, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 4.
McDougall repeated findings from his July decision when he dismissed a defence motion arguing Eisnor was unfit for trial because “cognitive processing impairment,” including retrograde amnesia, has harmed the accused’s ability to process or discuss information with legal counsel.
The judge said case law has established a trial can proceed if the accused can communicate with a defence lawyer and receive legal advice.
Police allege Eisnor shot 42-year-old Tina Mae Eisnor in the head twice outside a store in New Germany in June 2010, and that he then shot himself.
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