Steven Neville — who allegedly killed a man and tried to kill another — is back behind bars.
Neville is accused of assaulting a woman and distributing intimate images of her on two occasions. He’s also charged with three counts of breaching a court order.
The incidents were said to have happened in October and December 2017.
Neville appeared in provincial court in St. John’s today, represented by his lawyer Bob Buckingham. His bail hearing was postponed until Thursday.
But before he appeared in provincial court, Neville was brought to Newfoundland Supreme Court, as the Crown had filed an application to revoke Neville’s release, since he had been on a recognizance at that court level.
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However, Justice William Goodridge denied the Crown’s application, but a bail hearing is still needed at the provincial court level.
While Buckingham wanted the bail hearing to go ahead today, prosecutor Jason House requested a postponement to have Insp. Tom Warren involved. Warren was the chief investigator in Neville’s 2010 murder case.
Judge Colin Flynn agreed to set the hearing over until Thursday.
Neville was scheduled to go to trial in September on more serious charges.
He’s alleged to have stabbed Doug Flynn to death and seriously injured Ryan Dwyer during a street fight in October 2010 on Carlaisle Drive in Paradise.
It’s the second time Neville will be defending himself against the murder and attempted murder charges in court.
In February 2013, following a lengthy trial, a jury found Neville guilty of second-degree murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility of applying for parole for 12 years.
However, in November 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the conviction and sentence and ordered a new trial after the appeal was argued in front of a five-member panel in Ottawa.
The appeal went to the country’s high court as a result of a dissenting decision in Neville’s appeal at the provincial level.
While two out of three judges at the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal (Gale Welsh and Leo Barry) denied the appeal, the third (Malcolm Rowe) dissented.
The issue that caused the dissent was the trial judge’s response to a jury question.
During the jury’s deliberations, jurors asked Justice Carl Thompson, “We realize that this may be a ridiculous question. We would like to clarify that the legal definition of ‘to kill’ is the same as ‘to murder.’”
Thompson chose not to give an explanation and, instead, told them to review the information he had given them with regards to the charge.
All five Supreme Court of Canada judges agreed Thompson should have answered the question directly.
Neville was released on bail in April 2016 following a hearing a Hearing at Newfoundland Supreme Court.
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