A month after being convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Olds College student Nicholas Baier, Jeffrey Kevin Leinen has launched an appeal of both his conviction and his 14-year prison sentence.
A jury convicted Leinen, 26, of second-degree murder and aggravated assault on Dec. 14 following a three-week trial. He is now serving his sentence at the Edmonton Maximum Security Institution.
Leinen's Notice of Appeal was filed with the Alberta Court of Appeal on Friday.
Baier, 18, was run over and killed outside the Texas Mickey bar on October 29, 2010. A second Olds College student was injured in the same incident.
During Leinen's trial, the jury heard that he drove his pickup truck into a crowd of people after being kicked out of the bar.
In his Notice of Appeal Leinen cites seven reasons for the appeal:
1. The trial judge erred in law in her instructions to the jury;
2. The trial judge erred in law in her answers to questions from the jury;
3. The verdict of conviction is unreasonable;
4. The trial judge erred in permitting the Crown to call rebuttal expert evidence;
5. The sentence is demonstrably unfit;
6. The trial judge erred in law, or mixed fact and law in imposing sentence;
7. Any other grounds that may be permitted by the court.
With his appeal Leinen is seeking either an acquittal on both charges or, in the alternative, a new trial.
A date for Leinen's appeal to be heard has not been set, court officials said Friday.
