An application for a mistrial has been submitted in the case of a Leamington man found guilty of murder.
Back in August, a jury found 47-year-old Andrew Cowan guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his friend, 53-year-old Edward Witt.
Cowan was driving a pick-up truck, with Witt in the passenger seat, when he drove up a flower bed in Leamington at a high rate of speed using it as a ramp and crashed into the second floor of a building in October 2012.
Witt died.
During the trial, the defence argued the two men were attempting to commit suicide while the crown said the crash was intentional and Witt was not suicidal.
But on Friday, the defence submitted a notice of application for a mistrial claiming Cowan was "denied a fair trial".
In the application, it notes the Judge Kelly Gorman "failed to disclose the nature and extent of her close friendship with Crown attorney Tom Meehan."
It points out the judge had at least two meetings with the crown in the absence of the defence.
After the jury rendered its verdict, the judge met at a local bar for drinks with the Crown, the Crown's articling student and lead investigating officer and after leaving the bar "the Judge and Crown communicated via text message to meet up for dinner alone."
On August 31, 2017, the regional director of crown operations contacted the defence to advise that there was an investigation being launched into potential impropriety.
The defence contends the crown engaged in conduct that "undermines the integrity of the judicial process."
Cowan was scheduled to have a sentencing hearing Monday but instead a date was set for the mistrial application which will be heard next month.