DRUG CONVICTION TOSSED AFTER TRIAL HELD IN FRENCH

A New Brunswick court has set aside a woman's drug trafficking conviction after her trial was mistakenly conducted in French. The provincial Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for Neisha Petitpas, who was convicted of possession of oxycodone and cocaine for trafficking in October 2014. The appeal ruling says that at her first court appearance, Petitpas indicated through her counsel that she wanted to proceed in English, but at some point proceedings in Court of Queen's Bench switched entirely to French.