Supreme Court of Canada restores murder acquittal of Cambridge, Ont., man

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has restored the first-degree murder acquittal of a man from Cambridge, Ont., in a case that saw a key witness recant his statement.

The ruling reverses an earlier Ontario Court of Appeal decision that had ordered Yousanthan Youvarajah to face a second trial in the 2007 killing.

The Supreme Court overturned that decision by a 5-2 margin, which ends the prosecution of Youvarajah on this matter.

Youvarajah and a youth were charged in the death of a small-time drug dealer.

The youth implicated Youvarajah in a signed statement and was allowed to plead to a lesser charge.

At Youvarajah’s trial, the youth changed his story and the trial judge ruled the signed statement was not reliable, leading to the acquittal.