Former Saskatoon cops appeal conviction for leaving aboriginal man out in cold
A panel of judges has reserved its decision in the appeal Monday of two former Saskatoon police officers who were convicted of unlawful confinement.
Ken Munson and Dan Hatchen were sentenced to eight months in jail in December 2001, after driving an inebriated aboriginal man to the edge of the city and abandoning him in freezing temperatures.
- FROM DEC. 7, 2001: Former Saskatoon police officers sentenced to eight months
They went before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal seeking a new trial or, failing that, reduced sentences.
"We believe we have grounds for an appeal," said Morris Bodnar, their lawyer.
He argued that trial Judge Eugene Scheibel failed to properly instruct the jury about the powers of police officers. They acted legally when they drove Daryl Night to the outskirts of the city.
Bodnar also argued that Scheibel should have moved the trial out of the city so the officers could have been tried by an impartial jury.
When he convicted them, Scheibel said: "The accused demonstrated a flagrant disregard for the life, safety and well-being of the complainant."
Munson and Hatchen have been out on bail since they were convicted.
Their case was one of several that led the Saskatchewan government to set up the Commission on First Nations and Mtis Peoples and Justice Reform in 2001.
- FROM JAN. 17, 2003: Aboriginals may be paid to investigate police
Last week, it recommended the government pay for an aboriginal group to investigate complaints against the police.