TORONTO - Ontario's highest court has ordered a new trial for a Toronto man acquitted of first-degree murder charges in a 2004 slaying alleged to be gang related.
The Ontario Court of Appeal has quashed the 2007 jury acquittal of Warren Abbey in the shooting death of Simeon Peter, saying the judge erroneously withheld evidence.
At the heart of the three member panel's reason for allowing the appeal is a teardrop tattoo inked on Abbey's face several months after the slaying.
The panel agreed with the Crown's argument that the trial judge should not have excluded evidence -- collected from five witnesses -- relating to its meaning.
The Crown argued the teardrop is a symbol within urban street gang culture and sought to introduce it as an alleged admission of Abbey's guilt.
The trial judge excluded proposed testimony relating to the tattoo because he said it was too prejudicial.
