OTTAWA –
The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear arguments over procedural fairness in British Columbia which led to two guilty verdicts in the first degree murders of six people.
Earlier this year, the British Columbia Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston for the gang-related murders in what has become the “Surrey Six” case.
The Court of Appeal did not order a new trial, finding that a British Columbia Supreme Court judge did not err in excluding Haevischer and Johnston from a preliminary hearing in which a key witness testified in closed session.
However, the court ruled that the trial judge erred in dismissing a request from the two men for a hearing which would have enabled them to argue that their rights had been violated by police misconduct and by a long period of time. solitary confinement before trial.
Although the Court of Appeal overturned the men’s convictions, it upheld their guilty verdicts in the 2007 murders and returned the case to the British Columbia Supreme Court for an evidentiary hearing on the arguments of abuse of process.
The Supreme Court of Canada gave no reason today to agree to hear a Crown appeal, while dismissing a cross-appeal by the two men.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 2, 2021.
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