Judge dismisses 2019 murder conviction appeal

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This article was published 16/06/2024 (491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba judge has quashed a Winnipeg man’s bid to have his murder conviction overturned and ruled a lifetime imprisonment is a fitting punishment for the crime.

Justice Jennifer Pfuetzner dismissed an appeal by Michael Joseph Thomas Fox who claimed he did not mean to kill the man he chased down an Elmwood alley and stabbed in the back.

Fox was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2019 slaying, which left victim Darcy Lesley Rose with an 18 centimetre wound that penetrated his shoulder blade, rib and lung and severed his pulmonary artery.

In documents filed to the Manitoba Court of Appeal, Fox said the life sentence he received for dealing the killing blow was “unreasonable.”

Fox appealed his conviction for second degree murder, seeking either a new trial or that the court quash the conviction and substitute one for the included offence of manslaughter.

“I am not convinced that the trial judge made any palpable and overriding errors in drawing the inference that he did. As a result, I am not persuaded that the verdict was unreasonable,” Pfuetzner said of her June 5 decision to dismiss the appeal.

Fox, who was “deeply entrenched in a criminal lifestyle” at the time of the killing, also asked the court for permission to appeal the 15-year period of parole ineligibility attached to his life sentence — seeking to reduce it to 12 years.

Pfuetzner granted him leave to do so, but then dismissed the sentence appeal as well.

During his trial, court heard Fox was collecting drug debts in the Elmwood area when, during a dispute with another man, Rose aimed a sawed-off shotgun at him.

Fox challenged Rose, who tried to run away before he was stabbed in the back.

Rose managed to stumble to a nearby apartment block where he collapsed in his sister’s arms and died.

Court was told Fox had armed himself with the knife in anticipation of a conflict. He chased the victim for nearly 65 metres and later told a friend the knife “was hard to pull out” of Rose’s back.

At the time of the slaying, Fox was a known gang member with a leadership role. He had a lengthy criminal history and was considered at a high risk to reoffend.

In his appeal, Fox said he was provoked and acted in self-defense. He claimed Crown prosecutors did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew stabbing Rose might kill him.

Fox also alleged Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne, who oversaw the trial, did not fairly consider his extensive Gladue factors while determining his sentence.

After reviewing the proceedings, Pfuetzner found Champagne carefully assessed the evidence and was correct in his ruling.

“Ultimately, the trial judge properly, in my view, emphasized denunciation and deterrence as well as public safety in imposing sentence,” she said.

Pfuetzner’s dismissal of the appeal was agreed upon by two other court Justices.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca