Travis Vader's lawyer foresees stay of proceedings in McCann murder case
'The only answer is a new trial, or a stay of proceedings,' Brian Beresh says
Travis Vader's lawyer predicts his client may win a new trial, which could lead to a stay of proceedings after what he calls an irreversible error by the Alberta judge in convicting Vader of two counts of second-degree murder.
"Given the nature of this error — we think it's irreversible and affects the entire process — the only answer is a new trial, or a stay of proceedings pursuant of Section 11b of the charter," Brian Beresh said Thursday about the decision in Edmonton.
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If an appeal is successful and a new trial ordered, the earliest the trial could occur is 2018 or 2019, Beresh said.
That could be more than eight years after Lyle and Marie McCann went missing while driving to B.C. in their motorhome in July 2010.
Beresh said he intends to file a notice of appeal "first thing" Friday morning, citing Court of Queen's Bench Justice Denny Thomas's reliance on a section of the Criminal Code that was declared unconstitutional in 1990.
Beresh believes the extraordinary length of Vader's prosecution is an abuse of process under Section 11b of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The section states, "Any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time."
Beresh made the same argument in December 2015, accusing the Crown of delaying the judicial process when it stayed murder charges against Vader in March 2014, one month before trial, only to reactivate the charges nine months later.
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While Thomas ruled at the time that the defence had failed to make a case for abuse of process, he acknowledged it came close.
"Mr. Vader's long and interrupted march to the courtroom is troubling, however, given the seriousness of the charges, and the shared interests of Mr. Vader and the public in his very public name being cleared align to favour a full adjudication of the charges against him," he said.
"All of that said, this is a very close call."