CALGARY — Alberta's Court of Appeal has dismissed applications from two former Calgary police officers who were found guilty of misusing department computers and harassing a woman involved in a custody battle.
Bradford McNish and Bryan Morton were convicted last year of corruption-related crimes.
In March, Morton was sentenced to 30 months and McNish was sentenced to six months in jail for their roles in the scheme.
Court heard they were paid thousands of dollars to monitor the movements of Akele Taylor, who is the ex-wife of Calgary businessman Ken Carter.
Morton and McNish wanted their convictions overturned or their sentences reduced based on various grounds of appeal — including an argument that the trial judge misunderstood the evidence.
But two decisions released Thursday ruled that the trial judge made no errors in the convictions of either Morton or McNish.
"There is no reviewable error," wrote a three-member Court of Appeal panel in Morton's case.
The same panel said there was no merit to McNish's appeal.
Court heard during the trial that the two men, as well as a third officer, were approached by the owner of a private investigation firm to help dig up information about Carter's spouse.
They were charged in 2016 after Calgary police documents revealed they accessed the force's computer systems and conducted surveillance while on duty.
The third officer, Anthony Braille, was sentenced to three months in jail. He did not appeal and had already been dismissed by the police service shortly before the charges were laid because of his role in an unrelated high-speed chase.
Following the charges, Morton and McNish were put on leave without pay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 26, 2020
The Canadian Press
