OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal in a high-profile case in Alberta that saw a couple tried twice in the death of their sick toddler.
David and Collet Stephan have been accused of failing to see a doctor sooner for their 18-month-old son before his death in 2012.
They testified that they were treating the boy with natural remedies for what they thought was croup.
A jury found them guilty in 2016 of failing to provide the necessities of life, but the Supreme Court of Canada overturned that verdict and ordered a second trial.
A judge who heard the second trial without a jury found them not guilty in 2019.
In March 2021, the Alberta Court of Appeal granted a Crown application to set aside that acquittal and ordered another trial.
Crown prosecutors later stayed charges against the Stephans in June 2021, but the application for leave to appeal the decision on a third trial has already been submitted to the Supreme Court.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 4, 2022.
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