Mitchell Harkes appeals murder conviction and sentence in Brett Wiese killing
CBC News | Posted: November 2, 2015 11:46 PM | Last Updated: November 2, 2015
Appeal of Harkes' co-accused will not be heard
Mitchell Harkes has asked the Alberta Court of Appeal for a new trial after he was convicted of murdering Brett Wiese last month.
A jury found Harkes guilty of second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault for the January 2013 stabbings.
Brett Wiese was a 20-year-old business student at the University of Calgary. In January 2013 he and his friends hosted a party.
At one point they kicked out a group of underage girls, including Jazlyn Radke and her twin sister.
Hours later, an angry Radke came back with knives and a crew of people, including Harkes and attacked Wiese and his friends.
Radke was also convicted of second-degree murder but will not have her appeal heard as it was "struck" from the list because it was missing a document.
Because Radke was underage at the time of the killing, she was tried separately in April 2014.
In his appeal, Harkes claims the verdict was unreasonable and is not supported by the evidence presented at trial.
Harkes also argued the trial judge erred in allowing the prosecution to cross-examine him on his prior criminal record.
He's also arguing that the 12-year parole ineligibility on his automatic life sentence should instead be set at 10 years.