A former Red Deer man serving a life sentence for first-degree murder has pleaded guilty to three counts of perjury.
Christopher Martin Fleig, 29, appeared before Judge John Holmes in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday to answer charges that he gave contradictory evidence while testifying in his own trial, as well as at the preliminary hearing for two of the three other men charged in connection with the same incident.
Fleig and the others were arrested in connection with the gang-style murder of Red Deer resident Brandon Neil Prevey, 29. Prevey died in a hail of bullets outside a home on Ibbotson Close in the early hours of April 5, 2009.
Fleig was convicted of first-degree murder by Justice Kirk Sisson in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on May 31, 2012. Proceedings against the other three suspects were stayed following preliminary hearings in 2011.
Fleig admitted on Tuesday to giving contradictory evidence in his own trial on May 17, 2012, as well as during testimony he gave on March 24, 2011, in a preliminary hearing for two of the other three suspects.
Preliminary hearings may be requested to test the strength of the Crown’s case before proceeding to trial.
In court on Tuesday, Fleig asked that sentencing for his perjury charges be adjourned to Oct. 8, the same day that an appeal of his murder conviction is to be heard by the Alberta Court of Appeal in Calgary.
He told Judge Holmes that he wants time to seek legal assistance with sentencing. He asked that the sentencing hearing be held on the same day as the appeal, explaining that he does not want to risk being transferred into a provincial remand centre in the event that his conviction is overturned and a new trial ordered.
Fleig said the lawyer who will represent him for the appeal hearing is a specialist and is therefore not available to represent him for sentencing on the new charges.
He will be transferred from federal maximum security Edmonton Institution to the Red Deer Courthouse for sentencing on the perjury charges while his appeal lawyer addresses his murder conviction in Calgary.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com