Christopher Husbands, man previously convicted in Eaton Centre shooting, will have a new trial
Christopher Husbands will have a new trial after Supreme court decides not to hear appeal
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear a Crown appeal in the case of a man found guilty of second-degree murder in a daytime shooting at Toronto's Eaton Centre, only to be granted a new trial because of improper jury selection.
The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Christopher Husbands' convictions on two counts of second-degree murder, saying the trial judge made an irreparable mistake by overruling a defence request regarding the method of jury selection.
The three-member appeal panel said the jury was improperly constituted and the verdict cannot stand.
Husbands was acquitted of first-degree murder but was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Nixon Nirmalendran, 22, and Ahmed Hassan, 24.
The June 2012 shooting at the Eaton Centre's crowded food court sparked mayhem in the mall and sent hordes of panicked shoppers running for the exits.
Husbands, whose lawyers had put forward a defence of not criminally responsible due to post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 30 years.