Saskatoon judge delays decision in 1st-degree murder trial to get more case law from lawyers
Dan Zakreski | CBC News | Posted: January 11, 2023 5:15 PM | Last Updated: January 11, 2023
Justice Richard Danyliuk says issue is 'potential path to 2nd-degree murder'
A Saskatoon judge is delaying his decision in a first-degree murder trial because he wants more information from the lawyers.
Ranbir Dhull stood trial at Court of King's Bench last year accused of killing Samandeep Jhinger in July 2020. Justice Richard Danyliuk had planned on delivering his decision Jan. 10.
Instead, he asked for more case law from the Crown and defence.
"The issue is the potential path to second-degree murder," Danyliuk wrote in a fiat.
"I would benefit from counsel's briefing of cases and submissions of this part of the criminal law."
Danyliuk added that, "in no way should this fiat be interpreted such that I have decided on a verdict. I have not. Rather, before doing so, I want counsel to have an opportunity to fully address the matter."
Prosecutor Tyla Olenchuk and defence lawyer Andrew Mason are scheduled to make the submissions on March 3. Danyliuk is then scheduled to return with his decision on April 25.
Dhull, 44, is accused of killing his ex-wife's cousin, Samandeep Jhinger, in Warman, Sask., about 20 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.
Dhull is charged with first-degree murder because Jhinger died while being unlawfully confined.
Jhinger, 23, came to Saskatchewan from Ontario mere months before her murder.
Her body was found in the basement of a Warman home on July 3, 2020, according to police. A pair of pants and a scarf were wrapped around her neck, her wrists were bound to her legs and there was tape on her mouth, court heard.