New trial for Saskatchewan man charged in death of daughter’s boyfriend

REGINA – A Saskatchewan man convicted of gunning down his daughter’s drug-addicted boyfriend will get a new trial because of “backroom meetings” between the judge and the lawyers in the case.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on Wednesday overturned Kim Walker’s second-degree murder conviction because the trial judge, Justice Jennifer Pritchard, met twice with both Crown and defence lawyers, off the record and without Walker.

The Appeal Court said that was “a fatal error” because an accused person must be present for all of the trial.

“If the criminal justice system is to be perceived as being fair and impartial, judges cannot convene private and unrecorded meetings in mid-trial for the purpose of expressing their views about the substance of the proceedings and making inquiries about plea bargaining,” Justice Robert Richards wrote in the court’s 15-page decision.

There are few details about what happened at the first meeting. At the second meeting, the Appeal Court said Pritchard “indicated her opinion of the case” and made inquiries about “whether any discussions had taken place with respect to a plea bargain.”

“The clear implication of this is that the trial judge expressed a negative view of Mr. Walker’s defence,” wrote Richards.

“Notwithstanding the paucity of detail as to precisely what transpired in the chambers of the trial judge, the second meeting she convened is self-evidently problematic.”

Richards noted that Pritchard didn’t make any rulings at the meeting, but added that “an accused person would have every right to be cynical about the fairness of the trial after such a meeting took place.”

Walker was convicted in 2007 for shooting 24-year-old James Hayward.

The Yorkton father has never denied shooting the young man, but argued he did it to save his drug-addicted 16-year-old daughter, Jadah, who was living with Hayward.

Court heard during Walker’s trial that his daughter and Hayward were both hooked on morphine. Police testified they suspected Hayward of dealing drugs and were trying to build a case against him at the time of his death. But Hayward’s family has said he was a nice young man who was struggling with his own addiction.

Walker went to the couple’s house and fired 10 shots at Hayward, hitting him five times, including once in the back. Walker testified that he doesn’t remember much about that day.

He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

The Crown had argued before the Court of Appeal in December that Walker got a fair trial. Still, Dean Sinclair, the director of appeals for the province, said Wednesday’s ruling about the private meetings was not a shock.

“I understood from the written argument that the defence was concerned about the issue and I understood from the oral argument that the judges were concerned about it. We argued that they should not be, but I understood from the proceedings that they were so I can’t say was surprised by the decision at all,” said Sinclair.

Walker’s lawyer for the appeal had argued that his client should get a new trial because the judge erred in her instructions to the jury. Balfour Der said the jury was never allowed to consider self-defence as a justification for the shooting. He also said Pritchard should not have told jurors they did not have the option of acquitting Walker.

“I thought there were a number of things in the original trial that didn’t make it fair for him, so I’m happy that he’ll get a fair shot at it,” Der said Wednesday in a phone interview from his Calgary office.

“The backroom meetings that took place between counsel and the judge were of importance because it’s fundamental in Canadian law … that the accused is entitled to be present whenever anything of importance to his or her case is discussed. It’s important that there be an appearance of justice _ not just that justice is done, but that it appear to be done.”

Der said it will likely be many months before the new trial takes place, but he will try to get Walker released on bail in the meantime. Walker’s reaction to the ruling was subdued, said Der.

“He is relieved that this conviction has been overturned,” said Der.

“He’s grateful that he’ll have the chance to have a new trial to prove his innocence, but he’s also very remorseful in terms of the fact that there’s a young man out there who’s lost his life and a family who’s lost their son.”

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