MONTREAL — Jurors at Luka Rocco Magnotta's murder trial have emerged for the first time since they began deliberating — not with a verdict but with a legal question for the judge.
The jury is asking whether a personality disorder is considered a disease of the mind, according to the law.
Deliberations have been suspended while the court decides how to answer the question, one that suggests the jury is still considering the not criminally responsible defence presented by Magnotta.
The accused is charged with first-degree murder and four other charges in the slaying and dismemberment of Chinese engineering student Jun Lin in May 2012.
The defence has argued that Magnotta is schizophrenia and was off medication, leaving him psychotic during and after the slaying.
Defence experts testified that while he understood what he was doing, Magnotta could not tell right from wrong.
The Crown countered the crimes were planned and deliberate and that the steps Magnotta took to hide his tracks and flee authorities were not consistent with someone suffering from a mental disorder.
Prosecutor Louis Bouthillier said Magnotta's schizophrenia was a misdiagnosis and that his medical problems and behaviour are likely the result of personality disorders.
The eight women and four men officially began their work Tuesday and completed the day without reaching verdicts.
They must deliver five unanimous verdicts in the case.
