The Crown says the trial judge erred by excluding the evidence of one of its expert witnesses and by limiting the evidence of another.
Prosecutors in Ontario are seeking a new trial for a doctor from Montreal who was acquitted of four murder charges this month.
In a notice of appeal filed with the Court of Appeal for Ontario on Tuesday, the Crown said it believes the trial judge erred by excluding the evidence of one of its expert witnesses and by limiting the evidence of another, as well as by admitting the evidence of expert witnesses for the defence.
The Crown is now asking the court of appeal to set aside the acquittals and order a new trial.
The acquittal came after the Crown declined to present any evidence or call any witnesses to testify. Prosecutors said they were unable to continue after trial judge Justice Kevin Phillips ruled during a preliminary hearing that one of the Crown’s expert witnesses was not qualified to testify about the alleged victims’ causes of death and limited other expert evidence the prosecution wanted to present.
At the time, Nadler’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said it was “a day of vindication” for his client, who had pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He told reporters the defence planned to argue that the four patients died from COVID-19.
Greenspan said the Crown’s decision to appeal doesn’t come as a surprise.
“The Crown had indicated they would be appealing the ruling of Judge Phillips, and in our view their appeal is without merit and we look forward to responding to the appeal in the Ontario Court of Appeal,” Greenspan said Wednesday. “They’ve put in a notice of appeal with three potential grounds of appeal. We’ll respond to it, and the response will be that the appeal has no merit and the acquittal should stand as it is.”
Nadler was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and criminal negligence causing the deaths of Albert Poidinger, 89; Claire Brière, 80; Lorraine Lalande, 79; and Judith Lungulescu, 93 — all patients at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, where Nadler practiced as an internal medicine specialist.
With files from The Ottawa Citizen and The Canadian Press