Brian Nadler could be acquitted of murder and criminal negligence charges

Dr. Brian Nadler, who worked at a Hawkesbury, Ont., hospital and faces eight counts in connection with the deaths of four patients, is expected to be acquitted Tuesday, according to Crown lawyers and of the defense.

Mr. Nadler’s attorney, Brian Greenspansuggested Saturday that his client will likely be acquitted of all eight counts against him – four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of criminal negligence causing death – on the first day of what was to be a five-week trial in Ottawa.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin in June, but was postponed until Tuesday as preliminary hearings before Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips continued until the end of this week.

News of the pending acquittals was first reported in the Ottawa Citizen Friday.

What settled the matter

CBC attempted to reach Crown prosecutors this week for an update on what would happen Tuesday and received a response Saturday afternoon.

The Crown concluded that the effect of this court’s evidentiary rulings is to exclude evidence of sufficient importance to the prosecution that the Crown cannot proceedwrites prosecutor Robin Flumerfelt in an email.

For practical reasons, these decisions ruled against the Crown.

In order to appeal the decisions made before the trial, the Crown will ask that Mr. Nadler be indicted, Mr. Flumerfelt, after which we will advance no evidence and seek verdicts of acquittal on all counts.

Brian Nadler has been out on bail since July 2021.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario suspended his license days after his first charge.

Criminal negligence charges

Mr. Nadler was initially charged with first-degree murder in March 2021 for the death of Albert Poidinger, 89, at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital.

Police later laid three additional first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Claire Brière, 80, Lorraine Lalande, 79, and Judith Lungulescu, 93.

According to court documents, Mr. Poidinger was killed on March 25, 2021, and the three other people died on or around this date. The documents indicate that Ms. Brière, Ms. Lalande and Ms. Lungulescu also died in Hawkesbury, Ontario.

Last February, a new indictment against Mr. Nadler filed in Ottawa included four new counts of criminal negligence causing the deaths of the same four patients.

Mr. Nadler’s Toronto-based defence team had maintained his client’s innocence and said the patients died of COVID-19.

With information from Kristy Neaseof CBC News