SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- There will be another adjournment in the second degree murder trial of Dennis Oland because of unexpected legal issues, this time for two weeks.
Justice Terrence Morrison apologized to jurors on Wednesday morning as he adjourned the trial until Nov. 20.
"From time to time in criminal cases, issues arise that require schedules to be adjusted," the judge said in New Brunswick Court of Queens Bench.
Oland, 50, was present in court in Saint John on Wednesday along with lawyers and onlookers. The full jury panel of 16 members also was present.
Oland's trial for the 2011 bludgeoning death of his 69-year-old father, multimillionaire Richard Oland, was supposed to begin on Tuesday.
Oland was charged with second degree murder in 2013. He stood trial in 2015 but the jury verdict in that case was set aside on appeal in 2016 and a new trial ordered.
Morrison has given no hint as to what the issue is delaying the second trial.
"An unexpected legal issue arose that has to be dealt with," he said.
Oland, an investment adviser, has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.
His father's body was found on the morning of July 7, 2011, lying in a pool of blood in his uptown Saint John office. The businessman and former executive in the family's Moosehead Brewery had been beaten to death.
