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.
Walker’s daughter Jadah told CTV Regina the family is happy.
The Yorkton father never denied shooting the young man but argued he did it to save Jadah, who was 16.