A judge has decided to re-open the Douglas Hales murder trial.
The defence in the case had argued for a mistrial after a recent Supreme Court ruling called into question what evidence can be used from a Mr. Big sting operation.
A Mr. Big operation was relied upon by police officers to obtain a murder confession from Hales in the death of Daleen Bosse of Onion Lake Cree Nation.
Justice Gerald Albright says he believes he can still rule on the case with existing evidence despite the recent high court ruling.
Defence lawyer Bob Hrycan argues the foundation of the trial has changed because of the ruling and feels a mistrial should have been ordered by the judge.
“It’s certainly the legal option we would have preferred and we thought was most appropriate, the court disagreed, so now we will move onto the next stage,” he says.
Crown prosecutor Matt Miazga says the recent ruling does not fundamentally change the evidence in the case.
“We did not want to start this case all over again and argued that there was no reason why we couldn’t continue despite the recent Supreme Court ruling and the judge agreed with our position as far as the mistrial application goes,” he says.
Miazga also predicts the trial will not wrap up in 2014.
Hales is charged with first-degree murder in relation to Bosse’s death.
The trial will reconvene Oct. 22.