OTTAWA - A new trial has been ordered for an Ottawa man who was convicted in a hit-and-run in the city's downtown core that left a pedestrian dead.
The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Vlad Precup's conviction Wednesday, saying the character evidence of Precup's bad temper should not have been put to a jury.
Precup was found guilty in 2011 of dangerous driving causing death and failure to remain at the scene of an accident after 38-year-old Mitchell Anderson was killed (at the corner of Rideau Street and Colonel By Drive) in July 2008.
Precup had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He has been out on bail pending the results of his appeal.
Justice Eleanore Cronk says in her decision to appeal the conviction that the jury was never given proper instruction on how to use unproven details about Precup's past.
