Teen To Get New Murder Trial After Police Failed To Read Him His Rights in 2009
Then 16-year-old Charged With First Degree Murder Following Stabbing Death of 14-year-old Cousin
A teen sentenced as an adult for the murder of his younger cousin has won an appeal. The then 16-year-old was taken to the Barrie Police station on the night of March 9th, 2006 in connection to the stabbing death of his 14-year-old cousin at Lackie’s Bush.
The man will get a new trial due to a police breach of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as Appeals Court documents indicate at no time was he told by officers on scene or at the station that he did not have to be there, he was not in custody, and could leave without giving a statement.
The Ontario Court of Appeals says he was charged with First Degree Murder based on a statement given without having had his rights read to him. This came up during the initial trial, while the judge in that case decided to allow the statement into evidence regardless, something appeals court judges call a “fatal error”.
