Case information

Criminal law — Charge to jury — Whether trial judge’s answer to a jury question misdirected jury and led to verdict that was unavailable as a matter of law?

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Police found the bodies of two men in the trunk of a vehicle parked at the side of a road. Both men had been fatally shot. At trial before a jury, the Crown argued that Mr. Le and Mr. Singh transported drugs for traffickers and importers and Mr. Singh believed that one of the deceased had stolen a shipment of drugs. The Crown argued that Mr. Singh and Mr. Le lured the two men into Mr. Singh’s house where they subdued, drugged and bound them; then the two men were transported to the roadside site where they were executed and later found. During deliberations, the jury asked a question pertaining to liability for an offence as an aider. The jury convicted Mr. Le and Mr. Singh on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of second degree murder. The Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Le’s appeal from the convictions for second degree murder.