The Quebec Court of Appeal said it would not order a new trial for Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingham. He had been charged with murder in connection with the death of his wife, but the charge was thrown out last year under the Jordan ruling.
The Crown wanted the Court of Appeal to reverse the judgement and order a new trial.
Thanabalasingham was released last April, shortly before his trial date, because a Superior Court judge had ordered a stay of the criminal proceedings against him because of the long delays between his arrest and the expected date of his trial.
The Court of Appeal decided Friday to reject the appeal because Thanabalasingham had already been deported to his country of origin, Sri Lanka.
The Crown and the defense, however, were of the same opinion: they argued that the appeal was, in fact, useful.
The problem was that there is no extradition treaty between Canada and Sri Lanka. In short, even if a trial was ordered, it would have been difficult to bring him back to the country to face justice.
