Legal Research

Pickton Judgment from BCCA

By Simon Chester

The conviction of Robert William Pickton was upheld today in a two-one split decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Here is the judgment from the court, subject to some redaction because of the publication bans.

In a second ruling yesterday, the court unanimously accepted the Crown’s appeal of a decision by Justice Williams to sever the 26 counts of first degree murder into six and twenty as well as errors of law in three rulings on evidence and errors in the jury charge. But the Crown acknowledged that a new trial on 26 first-degree murder charges may serve no useful purpose, as Pickton has already been sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment available under Canadian law.

The three judges agreed to the Crown request to stay the order for a new trial until a final decision is made on any appeal that may be made to the Supreme Court of Canada.

It seems as if it’s not yet over.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on June 25, 2009 (boomark / email).