3 days ago
New trial ordered for Windsor man sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder
The Court of Appeal of Ontario has ordered a new trial for a Windsor man serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.
The panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges all agreed Justice Renee Pomerance made errors during the jury trial of John Wayne Pierre in September 2018.
He was charged in 2016 in the death of Lesley Watterworth, who was his girlfriend at the time.
The Crown argued that Pierre killed Watterworth in a fit of rage motivated by the fact that he recently found out she had a sexual relationship with another man.
But his defence lawyer said her death amounted to manslaughter, not murder.
While taking the stand in his own defence, Pierre testified in 2018 that the two began arguing after taking drugs.
"I grabbed the knife off the stove and I started stabbing her," Pierre said in court.
Medical professionals testified that Pierre's brain didn't function properly neurologically and that he had disorders related to stress, trauma and depression.
Jury was not 'accurately' instructed, appeals court finds
The panel of appeal court judges said the jury "was not accurately and sufficiently instructed" when it came to what's known as after-the-fact evidence — information brought up during trial about Pierre after Watterworth's death.
The appeals court identified the Windsor justice misdirected the jury twice in her instructions prior to deliberations and did not provide a "limiting instruction" of the charge.
The jury "was left unequipped with an accurate understanding of the law and the evidence," said Justice David Paciocco, the appeal court judge who authored the decision.
Pierre's conviction has been set aside and the panel of judges has ordered a retrial.
