Ex-pastor convicted in drowning of wife gets bail

TORONTO — A former Toronto pastor was granted bail on Friday, just days after being sentenced to 15 years behind bars in the drowning death of his pregnant wife.

An Ontario Court of Appeal justice agreed to free Philip Grandine while he appeals his manslaughter conviction for the second time, despite objections from the prosecution.

“There is a ground of appeal that clearly surpasses the ‘not frivolous’ standard, and no appreciable flight risk or public safety concerns, but instead a track record of compliance without incident with release orders,” Justice Benjamin Zarnett said in his written decision.

Grandine’s wife Karissa Grandine, 29, drowned in the bathtub in October 2011. Evidence was that he had secretly sedated her with lorazepam, better known under the brand name Ativan, which had not been prescribed to her. His wife had discovered Grandine had been having an affair, court heard.

He was first charged with firstdegree murder and convicted of manslaughter in 2014, but won a new trial on appeal. He was again convicted last February and sentenced this week.

In support of bail, Grandine, 33, argued the trial judge had made an error in her instructions to the jury. The instruction, in essence, amounted to letting jurors decide whether Grandine knew his wife had taken the sedative but didn’t take steps to ensure her safety.

Grandine maintained there was no evidence Anna Grandine had taken the drug herself.

Zarnett, in his analysis, agreed the former Baptist pastor had at least an arguable case. “At this juncture (it) clearly surpasses the ‘very low bar’ of the ‘not frivolous’ standard.”