Supreme Court of Canada won’t hear Oland appeals

OTTAWA — Dennis Oland could soon be back in a New Brunswick court, facing trial for the second-degree murder of his multimillionaire father all over again, but his lawyer says that’s just what they’re hoping for.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application by the Crown to restore Dennis Oland’s conviction, while his lawyers had filed a cross-appeal seeking an acquittal. Both were denied.

The three-judge panel did not provide reasons for the decision.

“Dennis is back in the same position he was in when first charged. He’s presumed innocent and there will be a trial sometime in the future,” defence lawyer Alan Gold said from his Toronto office.

Richard Oland, 69, was found face down in a pool of blood in his Saint John office on July 7, 2011. An autopsy showed he had suffered 45 sharp and blunt force blows to his head, neck and hands. A murder weapon was never found.

During Dennis Oland’s trial, court heard he was the last known person to see his father alive.

Dennis Oland, a 49-year-old financial planner and scion of one of the Maritimes’ most prominent families, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2015 and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

However, he was released on bail last October when the New Brunswick Court of Appeal ordered a new trial, citing an error in the trial judge’s instructions to the jury.