Canada | Law

Judge puts trial on hold due to lack of Native jury participation





A judge in Ontario delayed a murder trial due to lack of Native representation in the jury pool.

Judge Helen Pierce said it was impossible to convene a jury that that was representative of the Native population in Thunder Bay. Andre Theodore Wareham, 33, will now go on trial in November.

"It's very imperative that we rectify the situation, or it's going to slow down the apparatus of justice and how it's administered," Terry Waboose, the deputy grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski First Nation, told CBC News.

Last week, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a judicial inquiry to determine whether the Thunder Bay jury roll represents Native people. The Nishnawbe Aski First Nation is part of the case.

Get the Story:
Ont. murder trial halted for lack of aboriginal jurors (CBC 3/16)

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