The defence filed a motion Friday for mistrial in the case of Paul Fontaine, a man accused of killing a prison guard in 1997 under the direction of onetime Hells Angels boss Maurice "Mom" Boucher.
The mistrial motion centres around the actions of two jurors currently trying to decide the fate of Fontaine.
The defence also highlighted other prejudicial evidence against Fontaine heard during the trial.
The judge suspended the deliberation to hear the defence's arguments.
He dismissed the request for a mistrial outright, and has ordered the jury to resume deliberations.
The case
The jury has been sequestered since Tuesday night.
Paul Fontaine is charged with first degree murder for the 1997 killing of prison guard Pierre Rondeau. The guard was killed during an ambush of a prison bus in the east end of Montreal.
The principal witness in the case, Stephane "Godasse" Gagne, was also involved in the killing of Rondeau, making it a difficult deliberation for the jury.
Gagne pleaded guilty to charge of murder related to the death of Diane Lavigne, a prison security guard who was killed a few weeks earlier than Rondeau. He was able to plea bargain out of the charges for the murder of Rondeau.
Initially it was believed the killing of the guards was intended to destabilize the justice system. However, it was revealed in court that the killings were also ordered to test the loyalty of Fontaine, Gagne and others.
The actions of the jurors
The jury had asked the judge for permission to see the bus in which the shooting took place.
The judge said no because the bus was not entered as evidence. The jury had to refer only to the photos presented in court.
But during the jury's commute to and from the court house, the group would walk in front of a bus used to transport prisoners.
Earlier this week, a security guard noticed two jurors kept that looking at and circling the bus. One even jumped on the hood to try to see how easy it could have been for the shooters to get onto the hood. During the case, the court heard two assassins jumped on the hood of the prison bus and shot through the glass to kill Rondeau.
The security guard notified the judge. The judge brought in the two jurors, and he asked them if they discussed their findings with the other jurors.
They said yes.
The judge could have dismissed the jury on the grounds it was now tainted by outside evidence, and declared a mistrial.
But in the end, he decided against it. He did remind the jury to stick to the evidence they heard in court.
With files from Stephane Giroux.
