Opinion poll on alleged Winnipeg serial killer may hint at defence strategy: lawyer

A poll that seeks public opinion about a Winnipeg man accused of killing four Indigenous women has raised questions about why it's being conducted and whether the findings will be useful.

The online survey, which is being conducted via text messages and phone calls by the national polling firm Mainstreet Research, seeks public attitudes toward Jeremy Skibicki, 36, who is scheduled to face a jury trial this spring after pleading not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in November.

Skibicki is charged in the 2022 deaths of three First Nations women — Marcedes Myran, 26, Morgan Harris, 39, and Rebecca Contois, 24 — and a fourth, unidentified woman, who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by the Indigenous community.

Respondents to the online survey are first asked if they're Manitoba residents, at least 18 years old, and if they work in the justice system, before being asked questions such as whether they recognize Skibicki's name and if they've formed an opinion about his guilt.

Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, confirmed to CBC News on Tuesday that the poll was commissioned by Legal Aid Manitoba, which is where Skibicki's lawyers work.

Maggi would not share how much Legal Aid Manitoba paid for the poll or whether the final results would be made public, but said Mainstreet has conducted similar polls more than once in the past.

Nearly 90 per cent of Legal Aid Manitoba's 2023 operating funding came from the province.

The original link to the survey appeared to be no longer active on Wednesday, but Mainstreet confirmed that the survey remains active at another link.

Survey's efficacy questioned

The survey presents three criminal defences: not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder, problematic DNA evidence, and self-defence. It asks respondents about their general view of each defence and how acceptable they would find a not-guilty verdict for Skibicki based on them.

Anthony Robinson, a Vancouver-based criminal defence lawyer who is not connected to the Skibicki case, says those questions could suggest the defence's path forward, after Skibicki was denied a judge-alone trial in late January.

"Are they feeling out the waters with respect to a substantive defence? Or are they trying to renew their application to re-elect the judge-alone [trial] because they feel that Mr. Skibicki would not get a fair trial in the presence of a jury?" Robinson said in a Tuesday interview.

"I don't think the defence is obligated to tell anybody."

Peter Kingsley, Legal Aid Manitoba's executive director, said in an emailed statement to CBC News on Wednesday that Legal Aid "cannot discuss individual matters over which we may or may not have involvement."

However, he said that generally speaking, lawyers are "often required to present expert reports or factual foundations for motions or arguments," which "in some cases … is done with market research" — a practice he said is not common, but "not unusual."

A decision on whether to pursue a particular defence or expert is typically "based on a simple economic test — will the likely outcome justify the cost," said Kingsley.

For Legal Aid Manitoba, "in each and every request for disbursements, whether it is for an expert, a survey, or a private investigator, counsel must provide an explanation setting out the legal basis for the request, the anticipated outcome and why it is vital to their defence," he said.

Ensuring its clients get "the fullest defence available" requires a careful balance in considering possible defences, he said, meaning the program sometimes has to make difficult and unpopular decisions to ensure resources are not wasted.

"The last thing we wish to see is a situation where a person was wrongfully convicted because a valid defence was not considered simply due to cost or a perceived public pressure," wrote Kingsley.

Robinson, the Vancouver-based lawyer, says he's never seen this type of survey used in Canada before but that doesn't mean they don't exist, adding mock juries are sometimes created in the United States to explore which defences might have a greater impact on jurors.

He said Legal Aid Manitoba may be putting money into Skibicki's case since it is "highly unusual" and the stakes are high given the serious allegations against him.

He noted similarities between Skibicki's case and that of Robert Pickton, who was convicted in December 2007 of second-degree murder in the deaths of six women who had disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, in what was the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history.

"We saw a large amount of resources allocated to that particular defence, because it was obviously a very, very large-scale case," said Robinson.

However, Skibicki's defence may run into hurdles if the intent behind the survey is to use the results to renew calls for a judge-alone trial, he said.

"Just because people have answered the survey in one way doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't change their views once given instructions by a judge about how to apply the law to a particular set of facts."

'Disheartening'

Cambria Harris, daughter of Morgan Harris, shared a link to the survey on her social media Tuesday, urging people to complete it.

"What's disheartening is how ignorant this survey is to the families who are currently … going through stress and grief everyday," she wrote.

A spokesperson for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says it condemns the survey, which "disregards the dignity of the victims and their families," according to a Wednesday statement to CBC News.

"We urge for respectful and diligent legal proceedings that prioritize justice for the victims and their First Nations," the statement said.

But Robinson said defence lawyers have to act in the best interest of their clients without fear of offending some people.

"That doesn't mean that the survey isn't inappropriate, or shouldn't be made. It may be inappropriate or shouldn't be made for different reasons, I don't know, but it's not because it'd be unpopular with one particular group of people," he said.

"As a defence lawyer, you have a duty to act in the interests of your client. Often that involves making unpopular arguments."

Skibicki's six-week trial is scheduled to begin April 29, while jury selection is slated for April 25.