The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned an Alberta Court of Appeal decision that allowed for a new trial for a Calgary man convicted of killing an Olds College student more than three years ago outside Olds' Texas Mickey bar.
The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned an Alberta Court of Appeal decision that allowed for a new trial for a Calgary man convicted of killing an Olds College student more than three years ago outside Olds' Texas Mickey bar.
The Alberta Court of Appeal released a decision last August allowing for a new trial for Jeffrey Leinen after two of three judges serving on the appeal court found that "the trial judge erred in failing to instruct properly on the legal significance of the panic attack defence," court documents state.
The Crown announced its intention to challenge that decision in September because there was dissent amongst the appeal court's three judges on a question of law.
In a decision on March 21 in Ottawa, the Supreme Court found there was no error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury and allowed the Crown's appeal.
Leinen's December 2011 conviction in the second-degree murder of Nicholas Baier has therefore been restored.
Baier, 18, was run down by a pickup truck outside the Texas Mickey on Oct. 29, 2010.
While drinking at the bar, Leinen got into a fight and three bouncers escorted him outside where he engaged in another fight before getting into his truck.
Someone hit the back of his truck from the outside and uttered obscenities or threats and Leinen accelerated the truck toward a crowd that had gathered outside the bar.
He hit and killed Baier and injured Dan Skocdopole, another Olds College student.
Leinen, who was in his early 20s at the time of the incident, was also found guilty of aggravated assault against Skocdopole.
He was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole in 14 years and is serving his sentence in Edmonton.
In his defence, Leinen had argued "that his acceleration was an involuntary panic response," according to the appeal court judgment.
Leinen launched the appeal of his conviction on the grounds that, during the trial, Justice Marsha Erb "misdirected the jury, and erred in admitting bad character evidence and allowing an expert to provide rebuttal evidence," the appeal court's judgment states.
Baier's mother, Maggie, his uncle and aunt Frank and Cathy Van Humbeck and aunt Marilynn Deagle, along with Skocdopole's mother, Jane, Desiree Vandenhoven, the mother of another student who was injured outside the Texas Mickey, and Const. Matt Allen of the RCMP's K Division major crimes unit based in Red Deer attended the Supreme Court hearing on March 21.
The Baier family released this statement to the Olds Albertan on March 23:
"The Baier family is very grateful to Matt Allen and his unit from Major Crimes "K" Division in Red Deer for the intensive and diligent work in pursuing this investigation and convincing the Crown to seek a second-degree murder charge. We appreciate the tireless effort of the Crown Prosecutors' office and especially Roy Smith, Tara Wells and Josh Hawkes, who argued our case. The Olds RCMP Detachment and our special angels from Victim's Services have provided us with unfailing support. We would like to thank our family, friends and everyone who has helped us on our long journey. We are very relieved that the Supreme Court has given police forces across Canada a stronger tool in laying charges in similar cases."
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