news Crown tells Appeal Court splitting Pickton charges into two trials was wrong

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Crown tells Appeal Court splitting Pickton charges into two trials was wrong


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By The Canadian Press


VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Crown says a judge's decision to split the Robert Pickton case into two trials was wrong and helped undermined its case for first-degree murder.
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Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007 and his lawyers are appealing, saying a new trial should be ordered based on several errors made by the trial judge.
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: Fta Files - FTA-GODS.COM http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11403

But the Crown began its cross-argument today at the B.C. Court of Appeal saying if there is a retrial, it should be on 26 counts of first-degree murder - not only the six that the lower court heard.

Prosecutor Gregory Fitch says the judge's decision to split the case prevented the Crown from introducing similar fact evidence backing up its theory that the murders were planned.

He says that decision distorted the Crown's case and allowed Pickton's lawyers to undermine the evidence in ways they otherwise would not have been able to do.

If the defence fails in its attempt to have the case retried, the Crown will not challenge the six second-degree murder convictions and will not proceed with the outstanding 20 charges.