Lawyers for Winnipeg man accused of killing 4 women plan to argue he's not criminally responsible

Lawyers for a man accused of murdering four women in Winnipeg say they plan to argue Jeremy Skibicki is not criminally responsible in those deaths because of mental disorder.

"In the case you have before the court today, there are a number of agreements with respect to the case itself, and the defence is one of NCR [not criminally responsible]," defence lawyer Alyssa Munce said in court on Wednesday, during pretrial motions the week before Skibicki's jury trial is scheduled to begin.

"This isn't a case where we're looking at the evidence to determine whether or not Mr. Skibicki committed those offences. This is a situation where we're proffering a defence of NCR."

Lawyers for Skibicki, 37, and prosecutors in the case made their final submissions Wednesday on a motion filed by the defence to get rid of the jury that was chosen last week.

Instead, the defence wants the high-profile trial heard by a judge alone, citing concerns about whether jurors can be impartial given how much publicity has surrounded the case and the potential for unconscious bias.

"This is due to the evidence before the court that there is a reasonable probability that the potential jury pool was prejudiced, and that the jurors that we actually selected on Thursday are potentially prejudiced — and that the jury procedures that we have in place and that we used … are insufficient in eliminating that bias," Munce said.

WATCH | Lawyers to argue Jeremy Skibicki not criminally responsible:

She also argued that by not agreeing to allow Skibicki a judge-alone trial to begin with, prosecutors violated his Charter rights.

The Crown's consent is required for a judge-alone trial on certain charges, including murder.

Crown attorneys have pushed back against the defence's arguments, pointing to the fact that all the jurors selected told a judge they could be impartial, and that just under half said they had never heard about the case to begin with.

While the defence said they're not suggesting there shouldn't ever be jury trials in high-profile cases, a prosecutor said that's exactly what their argument amounts to.

"That's incompatible with the law. And so in my submission, that's why you have to dismiss this application," Charles Murray, who works with Manitoba Justice's constitutional law section, told Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal.

It's the second motion the defence has made to stop the trial from being decided by a jury, after Chief Justice Joyal rejected a similar motion earlier this year.

He is expected to deliver a ruling on the latest defence motion on Friday. Jurors have not yet appeared in court. They are expected to start hearing evidence on Wednesday, May 8.