Crown appeals stay of proceedings against man accused of killing his mother

The Manitoba Prosecution Service is appealing a judge’s decision staying a second-degree murder charge against a man who went to trial two times accused of killing his mother when he was a teenager.

“A notice of appeal has been filed,” Crown attorney Renee Lagimodiere confirmed Monday.

Lagimodiere said the Crown is appealing Champagne’s ruling on the grounds he erred by finding the accused’s Charter rights had been violated and for staying the murder charge.

“A notice of appeal has been filed.”

The accused man’s 51-year-old mother was found bludgeoned to death in her bedroom at her Southdale home, March 26, 2019. Prosecutors argued at trial the woman’s then 16-year-old son, the only other person who lived in the house, had exclusive opportunity to kill the woman and left the house for 90 minutes that morning to run errands to provide himself with an alibi.

Late last month, after more than five weeks of testimony, King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne ordered a stay of proceedings, ruling a series of actions by prosecutors denied the now 23-year-old man a fair trial.

Champagne’s decision, delivered after two stay applications from the defence made in the absence of the jury, focused primarily on the Crown’s cross examination of the accused, saying it was indicative of a “win at any cost” mentality.

Defence lawyer James Lockyer said there was no evidence the accused had anything but a loving relationship with his mother. He argued the victim was killed by a co-worker she had accused of sexually harassing her.

Jurors heard the victim had been off work for an extended time due to an injury and that the accused, who lived with his mother every second week, did much of the grocery shopping, cooking and house cleaning.

Champagne excoriated prosecutors and described various lines of questioning as “spurious,” “baseless,” “unfounded,” and “highly prejudicial.”

Prosecutors suggested the accused killed his mother to end her pain, or because he feared he would be saddled as her caregiver.

“The Crown takes all the evidence that confirms a strong bond between mother and son and turns it upside down to make unfounded allegations he killed his mother because he did not want to see her suffer any longer,” Champagne said.

“The suggestion flies in the face of evidence as she was recovering from injury and had planned to return to work the following week,” he said. “These outrageous allegations are contrary to all of the evidence.”

In another line of questioning, prosecutors elicited testimony about the accused crying as he discussed his concern about his mother with a school counsellor. That exchange was previously deemed privileged and off limits by the first trial judge.

Prosecutor Adam Bergen argued the questioning was fair game because he referred to the staff member the accused spoke to as a teacher, not a counsellor.

Champagne rejected the argument as “disingenuous.”

“The Crown was fully aware any tears shed at school were in front of a counsellor,” he said.

“Seven years is long enough for this case to go on.”

Champagne said the repeated “misconduct” of the Crown carried a serious risk of a miscarriage of justice.

Following Champagne’s ruling, Lockyer said he hoped the Crown would not appeal it.

“Seven years is long enough for this case to go on,” he said.

A jury convicted the man of second-degree murder following a trial in June 2022. The man was handed a maximum youth sentence of seven years custody and community supervision. He was released on bail in February 2023, pending his appeal.

That conviction was overturned two years later and a new trial was ordered after the Court of Appeal of Manitoba ruled the sentencing judge made critical errors in her instructions to the jury regarding the issue of fabricated evidence.

The issue focused on whether the accused’s comments to 911 operators and police regarding his actions following the killing amounted to lies and, if so, whether that could be used by jurors to infer guilt.

One of the alleged lies occurred during a 911 call when the teen identified one of his mother’s co-workers as someone who had been “bothering her,” resulting in her transferring to another office.

Prosecutors alleged the teen pointed the finger at the man as the “perfect fall guy” to divert suspicion from himself.

But the teen mentioned the man only when prompted by the 911 operator, the appeal court said. As well, four other people told police they had concerns about the man, including a co-worker who shared a text message from the victim, saying the man had threatened her and that “if something ever happens to me, it’s him.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca