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Mistrial denied in Calgary murder trial over jury’s visit to hotel Denny’s

CALGARY — A Calgary judge has denied a request for a mistrial after jurors deciding the case of a man accused of raping and killing a mother of four visited a restaurant in their hotel.
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CALGARY — A Calgary judge has denied a request for a mistrial after jurors deciding the case of a man accused of raping and killing a mother of four visited a restaurant in their hotel.

Jury deliberations halted Friday in the trial for Curtis Healy, who is accused of stomping and dragging Dawns Baptiste before raping her and striking her on the head with a large rock early on Feb. 11, 2015.

Healy’s lawyer Shamsher Kothari told Queen’s Bench Justice Charlene Anderson it was inappropriate for jurors to have been taken to a hotel Denny’s restaurant where there were TVs on and they ordered drinks from the manager.

Jurors are not to have outside contact, watch TV or use cellphones after they have been sequestered.

Jury guard Timothy McInnis testified some jurors wished to have a drink, but since the beverages could not be taken to their room, they went to the Denny’s.

Anderson denied the mistrial and jury deliberations were scheduled to resume.

“I’m not prepared to grant the stay,” she told court Friday. ”I don’t believe the jury officer’s decision to take the jurors to a lounge, while obviously inappropriate, would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

A few family members of the victim applauded the decision and exclaimed “Yes!”

Anderson gave instructions to the jury on Thursday afternoon and the jurors deliberated until 9 p.m. without reaching a verdict. On Friday, the jury reconvened at 9 a.m. and Kothari says he was made aware of the lounge visit an hour later.

Jurors were brought into the courtroom one by one Friday and each told Anderson that they neither spoke to an outsider about the trial, nor saw anything about the case on TV.