Canada High Court to Rule on Murder Trial Publication Ban Thursday

Image via WikipediaThe Supreme Court of Canada is slated to decide Thursday whether to hear an appeal of a publication ban ordered by Justice Dougald McDermid, SouthWest Region Judge of the Superior Court of Justices, regarding the trial of the accused killers of 8-year-old Tori Stafford, according to a report by theStar.com.

Canadian journalists were up-in-arms over the extensive ban ordered by Justice McDermid last April involving the first-degree murder legal proceedings against the accused, Terri-Lynne McClintic and Michael Rafferty. The remains of the Woodstock, Ontario-born Stafford were found three months after her disappearance on April 8, 2009.

Sec. 648 of the Criminal Code pertaining to the publication ban prevents publication of any information about any portion of the trial at which the jury is not present before the jury begins its deliberations. The Toronto Star and The Globe & Mail were among publications that reacted harshly to what they claimed was the unusual breadth of Justice McDermid's ban.