TORONTO - Romeo Phillion says it's "dream come true" that Ontario's top court struck down his murder conviction for the 1967 stabbing death of an Ottawa firefighter.
While the court ordered a new trial instead of granting the acquittal he was seeking, an emotional Phillion was clearly elated by the decision.
Ontario's attorney general must now decide whether to stay or withdraw the charge against Phillion, who spent 31 years behind bars.
The prosecution could also decide to arraign Phillion anew but offer no evidence -- which would lead to an automatic acquittal.
A spokesman for the attorney general says they'll review the case over the weekend before deciding how to proceed.
In ordering the trial, the Ontario Court of Appeal says it could not grant the acquittal Phillion was seeking.
Still, both the Crown and Phillion's lawyers have said there would be no point in trying him again for a murder that took place more than 40 years ago.
In 1972, Romeo Phillion boasted to police that he had killed firefighter Leopold Roy, and while he took it back almost immediately he spent 31 years in prison before he was freed on bail in 2003 pending his Appeal Court hearing.
Phillion had been previously denied appeals by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1974 and by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1977.
