Supreme Court reserves judgment on 4th murder trial for Kelly Ellard

Canada's highest court has reserved judgment on whether a fourth trial for Kelly Ellard should move forward. The Supreme Court said it would release a written decision at a later date, but did not provide a specific time.

Ellard has twice been convicted in the killing of 14-year-old Reena Virk more than a decade ago, but her latest conviction was overturned last September.

Virk was 14 years old when she was swarmed by eight teens, beaten and drowned in Victoria in 1997.

Ellard, who was 15 years old when Virk died, was convicted of murder in 2000, but that decision was set aside on appeal and a new trial ordered. A second trial in 2004 ended in a hung jury, and a third ended in 2005 with another murder conviction.

That result was once again overturned when a majority of Appeal Court judges said the trial judge did not properly instruct the jury. The Crown appealed that decision in the Supreme Court of Canada on Monday.