Law360 Canada ( March 27, 2019, 8:07 AM EDT) -- Appeal by the accused from conviction for manslaughter. The jury also found the appellant guilty of careless use of a firearm, but the trial judge stayed the charge based on Kienapple. The victim was the appellant’s fiancée. While celebrating their engagement, a rifle the appellant was handling in the kitchen before going target shooting discharged and killed the victim. The appellant argued he was unaware the rifle was loaded and was checking it to ensure it was not loaded. He claimed he inadvertently dropped the rifle which discharged because it struck something on the countertop. After commencing deliberations, the jury asked whether it could convict of one charge without the other. In answering the question and in his jury charge, the trial judge instructed the jury, in effect, that the only way it could convict of careless use of a firearm but acquit of manslaughter was if it found the appellant’s careless use of a firearm had not caused the victim’s death. The judge then effectively removed the possibility of an acquittal on the manslaughter charge when he reminded the jury the appellant had formally admitted the victim died from a gunshot wound....