Trials & Litigation
Former Prosecutor's Face-Making & Eye-Rolling Distracts Us, Jury Complains; Judge Dismisses Them
A retrial of a mother charged in a high-profile Canadian child-abuse murder case has hit a roadblock, after the jury complained to the judge that they couldn’t concentrate due to the eye-rolling and face-making of a blond man in the front row while the defendant was testifying.
That man turned out to be a prosecutor in the first trial of Erika Mendieta over the death of her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Emmily, and Ontario Superior Court Justice Nola Garton dismissed the jury once this was known, reports the Globe and Mail.
Defense lawyers have now asked the judge and prosecutor trying the case to consider having Garton hear it to conclusion, without a jury, so that Mendieta won’t have to endure a third trial, the newspaper reports.
