CALGARY — A mother accused of strangling her teenage daughter is to face a new trial.
The Alberta Court of Appeal has overturned an October 2013 ruling that found that Aset Magomadova (uh-SET' mag-uh-muh-DOH'-vuh), was too ill from cancer to face another second-degree murder trial.
Two of three Appeal Court judges wrote that while her medical condition evokes sympathy, the judge failed to explicitly address the community’s interest in seeing a murder charge proceed to trial.
Magomadova was charged with second-degree murder in 2007 after her 14-year-old daughter, Aminat, was choked to death with a scarf.
The mother was convicted of manslaughter in 2009 and given a suspended sentence with three years probation, which the Crown successfully appealed.
When the second trial was to begin, Magomadova applied for a stay, which she ultimately obtained on the grounds that her illness precluded her from receiving a fair trial.
In 2013, Magomadova's oncologist told court her prognosis was dismal and the woman's chance of surviving another five years was "less than one per cent."
