Gary Miller quits Dennis Oland's legal team as murder retrial begins

One of Dennis Oland'sdefence lawyers is steppingdown,just ashis retrial for second-degree murder in the 2011 death of hisfather, multimillionaire Richard Oland,gets underway in Saint John today with jury selection.

Gary Miller, who has represented Dennis Olandfrom the beginning and is one of themost prominent and experienced criminal defence lawyers in New Brunswick, is being replaced by Michael Lacyof Toronto.

"It's not real complicated," Miller told CBCNews. "Igenerally think that it's a good idea to get a fresh set of eyes on a retrial, pure and simple."

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A jury foundOlandguilty in December 2015, but the New Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned his conviction and ordered a new trialin October 2016, citing an error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury.

The other members of his defence team on retrial includeAlan Goldof Toronto, and James McConnellof Saint John, who were both involved in the first trial.

The Crown prosecutors are P.J. Veniot, Derek Weaver and Jill Knee.

Miller, 70, of Fredericton, said he could think of only one other case in his 41-year career where he represented a client at both trial and retrial.

Am I looking forward to sinking my teeth into something else? You betcha.- Gary Miller, defence lawyer

"And that was a relatively straightforward one-issue case," heard by ajudge and jury at the first trial and by ajudge alone on retrial.

"It wasn't this kind of case where there's issues all over the place," he said without elaborating.

Miller said he remained on the Olanddefence team throughout the summer to give Lacy an opportunity to "get up to speed" andwill participate in the jury selection, scheduled to beginat 9 a.m. AT at Saint John's Harbour Station,but his involvement going forward will be "peripheral at best."

"Am I looking forward to sinking my teeth into something else? You betcha."

He will continue to follow the case "with keen interest," he added.

'Intensely familiar with the file'

Lacy, who trained under Gold and has worked with him on various casesduring his 20-plus-year career, said he has workedonOland's case since the original trial, although he has not appeared in court.

"My work on the appeal required me to get up to speed on all of the trial evidence and to become intensely familiar with the file. I have continued to work on the file since then in various ways," he said in an emailed statement.

"From my initial involvement in the case I was of the view that justice would only be served if Dennis was acquitted. I look forward to [continuing]to work with the other members of the team to achieve that end."

Lacy,of law groupBrautiThorningZibarrasLLP, hasworked on many homicide trials and appeals, including the case of Toronto policeConst. JamesForcillo, who is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to allow him to appeal his attempted murder convictionin the 2013 shooting death of SammyYatim, 18.

In April, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Forcillo's appeal and opted to uphold his six-year prison sentence.

Earlier this year, Lacy helped win a new trial for former Esgenopetitj First Nation chief Wilbur Dedamon sexual assault charges dating back to the 1970s.

Dedamwas sentenced in 2016 to nine years in prison after a juryfound him guilty of six sex crimesagainst three girls, but theNew Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned his convictions, citing violations of the Criminal Code of Canada and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms during his trial.

'Tremendous amount of work'

Gold said he's grateful Lacy's schedule allowed him to join Oland'sdefence team for the retrial, describing him as"a real asset to share this very substantial workload that we have for this very, very serious case."

Miller also "remains a valuable asset" to the defence team and will be available to consult on the case on an"as-needed basis," said Gold.

"He simply felt that the day-to-day work in court everyday wasbecoming too much. It's extremely taxing, not to mention the preparation you have to do each evening."

"I mean this is, as legal proceedings go, this is as large and demanding a legal proceeding as lawyers encounter," said Gold.

The Crown prosecutorsand Saint John Police Force have "devoted thousands and thousands and thousands of hours" to the case, he said.

"So there's dozens and dozens and dozens of things that Dennis' lawyers have to prepare for court and for the jury."

"There is just a tremendous amount of work."