Results of review of 3 derailed murder cases should be made public, profs say
Civilian oversight of police lacking in New Brunswick, says UNB law prof Nicole O'Byrne
The Fredericton Police Force should disclose more information about an error it made that led to the collapse of murder charges against five people, experts say.
The police force has taken the blame for murder charges being stayed against five people charged in connection with two homicides.
But it remains unclear whether the force will release the results of a promised independent review of the "evidentiary issue" that resulted from police error.
"This is very serious, what happened, and hopefully it will not happen again, but we need to know that they are taking steps to rectify the problem and to prevent its recurrence," said Nicole O'Byrne, an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick faculty of law.
"And the only way we're going to be able to ensure that is if there's some public transparency and accountability built into that oversight and review process."
Last Friday afternoon, Fredericton police Chief Gary Forward issued a statement apologizing for an error the police force made resulting in the stay of proceedings, and committed to seeking an independent review into how it happened.
Earlier that afternoon, Crown prosecutor Jeremy Erickson appeared in court to seek a stay for murder charges against Erica Lea Ann Blyth, Joshua John McIsaac, Devon Mark Hill Hood, Matthew David LeBlanc and Travis James Snowsell.
Blyth and McIsaac had been charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing Brandon Donelan, 27, of Minto.
Donelan's body was found in a wooded area between Minto and Chipman, now Grand Lake, on March 31, 2022, after being reported missing two months earlier.
Hood and LeBlanc were to be tried separately on first-degree murder charges alleging they killed Donelan.
Snowsell and McIsaac were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Corey Christopher Markey. Markey, 41, was shot in Fredericton's north side on Dec. 21, 2021, and died eight days later.
Donelan's homicide was investigated by the New Brunswick RCMP, while Fredericton police investigated Markey's homicide.
Forward, in his statement, said his department's error "detrimentally impacted on a similar major crime investigation by a partner agency."
CBC News asked the Fredericton Police Force for an interview with Forward about the review, but a spokesperson said no further information would be provided.
How an independent review could look
As for the independent review into what happened, a possible scenario would see a police officer from another jurisdiction being called in to conduct it, O'Byrne said.
Alternatively, the provincial government could call a public inquiry into the matter, she said.
There's no standard procedure, however, for ensuring transparency in a situation like this one, which raises the need for better civilian oversight of police in New Brunswick, O'Byrne said.
"There's been a serious problem in this province with police accountability in the past. The [New Brunswick] Police Commission, the Police Act, affords a great deal of latitude to police in New Brunswick, and that should be changed."
CBC News asked the New Brunswick Police Commission for an interview about whether it would be involved in reviewing the actions by the Fredericton Police Force.
In an email, executive director Jennifer Smith said privacy legislation prevents her from revealing if a complaint has been filed against a police officer.
CBC News also asked for an interview with Rob McKee, the attorney general and justice minister, about whether the department would seek a public inquiry into what happened.
In an email statement, McKee only said that he had been briefed, and he accepted there were "insurmountable evidentiary issues."
He said he will not be commenting further.
Answers could take time, if they come at all, expert says
Whatever comes out of a review into what happened could take time, and the full results might not be publicly revealed, said Robert Currie, a criminal law professor at Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law.
He said steps have to be taken to ensure fairness and due process for the police officers involved.
Some of the review's findings might also need to be kept confidential if their release would compromise public safety, Currie said.
However, he said he still thinks the public deserves more details about what went wrong.
"There absolutely must be some kind of finding that gives the public some explanation and some information about what happened here," Currie said.
"Because otherwise people are quite understandably going to lose confidence in the overall administration of justice, and that in this world today, that is something we worry about."
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