New trial for two convicted in man’s death

Two men convicted of manslaughter in the death of a 55-year-old Hamilton man after they broke into his apartment searching for drugs will be tried again.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled Monday that George Cooke and nephew Matthew Cooke deserve a new trial in the death of Jessie Kovacs because of errors the judge made while instructing the jury in 2015.

The appeal is unusual in that both the Crown and defence have sought a new trial.

“I’ve been practising and doing appeals for a quarter-century, and I think this is about the second time it has happened,” Richard Litkowski, George Cooke’s lawyer, said after Monday’s decision. “It is unusual.” The jury in the 2015 trial heard conflicting expert opinions on how Kovacs died after the Cookes burst into his apartment in December 2011 to steal fentanyl patches.

“In retrospect, the respondent regrettably acknowledges that the trial judge did not fulfil her obligation to ensure the jury had sufficient help relating the evidence to the issues,” a Crown submission to the Appeal Court in August concedes.

The Ministry of the Attorney General declined to comment further with the matter before the court.