Woman faces third trial for fatal stabbing
Appeal court rules judge erred when instructing jury
Calgary woman Crystal Crowchild will stand trial a third time for second-degree murder, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday.
Crown prosecutor Julie Morgan conceded Justice Ged Hawco erred in his instructions to jurors, after a three-member appeal panel raised concerns about comments the judge made in his jury instructions.
During their deliberations in February 2016, jurors asked for clarification on the issue of intent to commit murder.
In his answer, Hawco told jurors that to find intent they would have to rule that Crowchild knew when she stabbed the victim that it was dangerous and it “could” cause death.
Before even hearing from defence counsel Alias Sanders, the appeal judges asked Morgan if that was fatal to the case.
After briefly considering her position, Morgan returned to court to say the Crown agreed a new trial was necessary.
Crowchild has been twice convicted of second-degree murder in the March 17, 2010, stabbing death of Aref Nassereddine.
Nassereddine, 64, was fatally stabbed by Crowchild in his southwest Calgary home.
Crowchild, who was 25 at the time, had met Nassereddine that morning in the East Village and agreed to go to his home for sex for $60.
During her second trial, she told court she had never before engaged in prostitution but needed to feed her crack habit.
After they had sex in his bed — while his wife was at work and six-year-old daughter in school — he asked her for oral sex as well, she testified.
But Crowchild, who was only given $40, refused and began to leave the residence.
As she got to the back door, Nassereddine, still naked from the waist down, grabbed her, and she grabbed a knife from the sink nearby and repeatedly stabbed him.
Following the jury’s verdict, Hawco ruled they must have found Crowchild used excessive force in attempting to repel Nassereddine.
Crown prosecutor Ryan Jenkins asked the Court of Queen’s Bench judge to set her parole ineligibility at between 15 and 17 years, arguing she posed a risk to society.
He noted a report prepared for a September 2010 sentencing for aggravated assault found her a high risk to reoffend.
But Hawco agreed with defence lawyer Jim Lutz’s assessment that the report was dated and parole ineligibility should not be increased from the minimum 10 years available.
Crowchild was arrested on the murder charge in April 2011.
She’ll appear in court again on May 5, when it’s expected a third trial will be set.