Canadian high court to hear Ellard appeal

OTTAWA, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Canada's Supreme Court said Monday it will hear an appeal in the case of Kelly Ellard, who is facing a fourth trial in the drowning death of a teenage girl.

Ellard's attorneys had sought to block the high court from hearing the prosecutors' appeal seeking to uphold her 2005 conviction and life prison sentence. The matter will be heard sometime this spring, the Victoria Times Colonist reported.

Ellard is accused in the 1997 death of 14-year-old Reena Virk of Victoria, who was beaten and then drowned in the Gorge Waterway.

An appellate court had ruled 2-1 that the trial judge had failed to properly instruct the jury on certain testimony, which the defense contended was hearsay. But the Supreme Court justices agreed take another look at the case.

Ellard's first conviction was overturned on appeal and her second time before a judge ended in a mistrial with a hung jury. She then was convicted again in the third trial.

Another defendant, a teenage boy, was convicted of second-degree murder and was granted parole after eight years. Six other teenage girls were convicted of assault.