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Murder conviction tossed on appeal

A Red Deer man convicted of second-degree murder in 2008 has been granted a new trial by the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Paul White, accused of murder
Paul White: has already served three years in custody.

A Red Deer man convicted of second-degree murder in 2008 has been granted a new trial by the Alberta Court of Appeal.

In a ruling released on Thursday, the appeal court said that Paul Lionel White, 23, should never have been forced to conduct his own defence without the benefit of a lawyer.

White, who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 13 years, was convicted of stabbing Grant Shoemaker, 21, of Red Deer, to death in the summer of 2005 in Red Deer.

White was sentenced on Aug. 11, 2008, by Justice Dennis Thomas in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.

Thomas convicted White, citing evidence that he had wounds consistent with a knife fight and that the victim’s blood was found on White’s shower curtain.

White, who was 18 at the time of the murder, went through two experienced lawyers at his trial. They both quit the case.

Thomas told White the charge would proceed whether he had counsel or not.

At one point, White’s girlfriend testified she killed Shoemaker.

White also testified that his girlfriend killed Shoemaker, who was stabbed 34 times while he was in his residence.

The girlfriend can’t be identified because she was 16 at the time of the murder and her identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The appeal court said White proved completely ignorant of the law and its procedures.

At one point, he referred to the Criminal Code of Canada as “the big book with all the rules in it.”

The three appeal court justices decided there was no evidence that White tried to manipulate the system by delaying his trial.

The court ruled that a defendant with so much at stake shouldn’t have been left to his own resources.

The court said “the fact is that the record here is troubling. A critical juncture in the trial had been reached and it is obvious that as of Dec. 17, 2007, no experienced defence counsel could be adequately prepared to represent the accused.

“There was simply not enough time to get up-to-speed.

“That is why the accused specifically sought, but did not obtain, an adjournment to the following June when, as he told the presiding judge, Mr. Rauf (a lawyer who could take the case in June) would be ready to act.”

The Crown argued that there had been multiple adjournments since May 11, 2007, for White to retain and instruct new counsel.

The adjournment to Feb. 19, 2008, allowed White two months to find new counsel.

The trial judge was not available in May and June 2008 and would not be available until September 2008.

The delay to June would tend to bring the administration of justice into disrepute, the Crown argued.

The appeal court ruled that White, as an 18-year-old at the time with no previous criminal record and no prior experience with the administration of justice, should not have been left to his own resources at the critical moment of this trial when he asked his girlfriend questions.

White will remain in custody, but move from a federal jail to a remand centre. He may re-apply for release on bail.

jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com

— with files by The Canadian Press