After months of delays, Michael Ball’s court case appears poised to move ahead.
Ball is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the June 2013 death of Erin Howlett.
His first trial began in November 2015 and ended in a mistrial more than four months later, as jurors were unable to come to a unanimous verdict.
He was found guilty of committing an indignity to a body and sentenced to time already served, plus one day.
Plans for a second trial on the murder charge have been on hold as Ball has been seeking a government-funded lawyer.
On Tuesday, Kitchener court heard that Ball had worked out a special arrangement with Legal Aid Ontario.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ball will have to repay the public money if he ever ends up in a financial position to do so – whether that happens through inheritance, a lottery win, a high-paying job, or other means.
“Instead of it being taxpayers’ money, it’s more of a loan,” Ball said outside court.
Ball comes from a family which owns part of a well known construction firm in Waterloo Region.
He has said that his parents paid for his first trial, and shouldn’t have to pay for a second one. Details about his parents’ financial situation are subject to a publication ban.
While the legal aid arrangement has not yet been finalized, Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer Paul Burstein said that he expects it will be “very, very soon” – likely within the next week.
“Once that’s formally done, then … I’ll officially be Mr. Ball’s lawyer,” he said.
Howlett’s body was found in the Grand River in July 2013, having been stuffed into a duffel bag.
During Ball’s first trial, the Crown alleged that Ball had choked her to death in a jealous rage. Ball has said that he was angry with Howlett, but did not kill her.
With reporting by Nicole Lampa
