Law360 Canada ( November 11, 2024, 11:50 AM EST) -- Appeal by Derksen from his jury conviction for second degree murder on grounds that trial judge erred by concluding a corrective instruction was sufficient to address risks to trial fairness that arose from Crown's closing submissions. The appellant and his then girlfriend, Lafferty, picked up Aden from a correctional facility. Two days later, a third-party spotted Aden’s dead body with multiple gunshot wounds including two fatal gunshot wounds to the back of the head. The appellant and Lafferty were both charged with Aden's murder.Each claimed the other was responsible. The defence closed its case. The Crown's closing submissions followed. In closing, the Crown suggested the appellant might have tailored his testimony to the evidence at trial and Lafferty was more worthy of belief because she did not hear the testimony of other witnesses. The Crown suggested the appellant's evidence was self-serving and he was lying because he did not want to be convicted of murder. Defence counsel first raised his objection to statements made by Crown counsel in closing submissions. Defence counsel filed written submissions in support of a mistrial application. The trial judge held that the corrective instruction would identify the Crown error, explain why it was improper, correct any misstatement of the evidence and the law, and caution the jury against the prohibited chains of reasoning....