Ontario's attorney-general is being urged to suspend a Crown attorney whose behaviour distracted jurors to the point where it may have scuttled the second prosecution of a mother accused of killing her toddler.
The province's chief prosecutor is looking into the incident, but the Opposition Conservatives said Wednesday that Attorney General Chris Bentley should suspend Crown lawyer Paul Alexander immediately.
And NDP critic Peter Kormos says Bentley has to move quickly because the case has not only embarrassed his government, but Ontario's criminal justice system.
Mr. Bentley wouldn't say whether Mr. Alexander is still working on cases and referred all questions to the chief prosecutor.
Mr. Alexander took a seat in the front row during the second-degree murder trial of Erika Mendieta and his behaviour distracted jurors to the point where the judge is prepared to declare a mistrial.
Both sides are scheduled to return to court Thursday to see if the trial can be salvaged by proceeding with the judge alone.
Mr. Alexander did not immediately reply to requests for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Alexander prosecuted the first case against Ms. Mendieta, who is accused killing her young daughter Emmily in 2003, but was not involved in the second trial.
Last week the jury sent a note to Justice Nola Garton asking that a man sitting in the front row, who turned out to be Alexander, be removed from the court.
It even included a diagram that identified where he was sitting.
"We find him very distracting and he is making strange faces all the time," the jury said in the note. "We feel very uncomfortable with him."