Crown appeal against Ray Newman dismissed in Chrissy Predham Newman slaying
The Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has dismissed the Crown's attempt to overturn a trial judge's decision to dismiss key evidence in the trial of Ray Newman.
Newman was acquitted of second-degree murder in 2012. He was accused of killing his estranged wife Chrissy Predham Newman in 2007.
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During the trial, Justice James Adams excluded a large amount of evidence obtained by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, citing a violation of Newman's Charter Rights.
The Crown submitted the trial judge made an error in characterizing certain evidence obtained during the court of investigation as derivative.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member panel of the Appeals court dismissed the appeal, stating the trial judge "did not err" in his decision to exclude certain evidence in court.
At the time of the verdict, the Crown had stated its intention to appeal the decision.
Predham Newman's body was found in her basement apartment in the Airport Heights neighbourhood of St. John's on Jan. 21, 2007.
The police made a big mistake. And it's awful and I don't want to put the blame on anyone, but the police made a big mistake.- Bruce Harvey, Chrissy Predham Newman's uncle
On the night of Predham Newman's death, police questioned Newman at RNC headquarters without cautioning him and reading his rights.
According to the trial judge, police did not read Newman his rights until a half hour into their interview with him at the station, after having him confirm that he had been at his wife's apartment that morning.
In his 2012 decision, the trial judge had outlined "egregious, flagrant and deliberate violations of his Charter rights … and the negative impact its admission would have on the repute of the administration of justice."
'Police made a big mistake'
Bruce Harvey, Predham Newman's uncle, said he's been fighting for the last seven years to bring the man he believes killed his niece to justice.
"My niece was murdered. The evidence was pointed to Ray Newman," said Harvey.
In 2012, Justice Adams outlined an unlawful search of Newman's car, and found that his statement was not voluntarily given to the RNC.
Newman's lawyer Mike King said these weren't minor violations against his client.
"These were numerous, deliberate, egregious and major violations by the RNC — and I'm using the judge's words, those aren't my words. It's not a matter of the police made a mistake here and there — these were significant mistakes," said King.
RNC Chief Bill Janes said Monday until the Crown decides what direction they will take with the case, he won't comment on case specifics.
Janes added since 2007, the RNC has made changes to the way it functions, including a new process for interviews and a full-time lawyer on staff.
"I think we're in a position where a tremendous amount has changed since January of 2007. We're always reviewing the work that we do, the case law, investigative techniques from other jurisdictions," said Janes.
"So we're always trying to move forward and improve, and in terms of this particular case, I'm trying to reserve my comments until the Crown makes its determination as to how they're going to move ahead."
'No one is happy'
"It's certainly not a time for celebration. No one is happy about what has happened, but up until Friday he felt like this was still hanging over his head, and I guess, as I said, he can pick up the pieces and try to put them back together and try to go on living his life," said King.
For Harvey, he said it's time for his family to move on and start the healing process.
"A 29-year-old girl died, who had her whole life ahead of her, and there's a person walking the streets tonight that is freer than our family is," said Harvey.
"I believe that this is not going to go unpunished. I believe that the person who killed Chrissy may never spend a day in jail but he's not going to go through this life easy. He's not going to go through this life easy."