Latimer wins appeal for day parole

Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer imprisoned for killing his severely handicapped daughter, is to be released on day parole after seven years behind bars, an appeal board said Wednesday.

"I can say he's certainly happy, he's certainly delighted," Latimer's lawyer, Jason Gratl, told CBC News.

"It's an excellent development."

In a move that pleased Latimer's supporters but angered some advocates for people with disabilities, the National Parole Board Appeal Division reversed a decision in early December by a three-person panel of the parole board that denied parole to Latimer, saying he refused to acknowledge his actions were a crime.

In a written decision, the appeal division said the denial could not be supported in law and a delay in releasing Latimer "would be unfair."

It said the circumstances of Latimer's offence were unique and it was unlikely he would find himself in a similar high-risk situation.

As such, the appeal division said it was reversing the board's decision and that Latimer, 54, is to be released immediately.

"Ultimately, [it] decided that he really didn't lack insight into his actions and motivations in a way that was sufficient to demonstrate that he presented an undue risk to society if released into day parole," Gratl said.

He said Latimer would be transferred to a halfway house in Ottawa in the next three or four days when a bed is available.

Latimer has family in Ottawa, as well as many supporters, said his sister, Pat Latimer-Martin.

"We have a sister living in Ottawa and I know there's a large group that is very supportive of him," Latimer-Martin said from New Brunswick.

Once out on day parole, Latimer will have to meet certain conditions, such as having no responsibility for anyone who is severely disabled.

The appeal division said this condition is "reasonable and necessary," given his history with his daughter, Tracy.

"If you were to find yourself again in the unique situation of having responsibility for, and making decisions for, a severely disabled person, particularly someone to whom you have an emotional attachment such as a son or daughter, your risk would increase," the appeal division wrote.

Disabled groups fear ruling condones action

Advocates for the disabled lashed out at the decision on Wednesday.

"I worry that the public will understand this parole as some kind of sanction of what he did," Jim Derksen of the Council for Canadians with Disabilities told CBC News in Winnipeg.

Craig Langston, the president of the Cerebral Palsy Association of B.C., worried other parents would follow Latimer's lead.

"I think it sends a scary message that parents can decide that taking a life of their child is the right thing to do," he said. "The preservation of life should be the first concern."

Latimer has maintained that the 1993 death of 12-year-old Tracy was a mercy killing. The girl was born with cerebral palsy and had the mental capacity of a three-month-old.

The farmer from Wilkie, Sask., has been held in a minimum-security prison on Vancouver Island where he is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association filed the appeal of the parole board's decision on Latimer's behalf, arguing that Latimer has shown he is not a danger to society.

The group is celebrating Wednesday's ruling.

"Rarely in all my experience in fighting lawsuits have I seen such a complete and unqualified win from an appellate body. It was time for Robert Latimer and his family to have an uptick in their lives and this is it," BCCLA secretary John Dixon said in a release.

Latimer can apply for full parole in 2011.