Convicted rapist Doug Snelgrove asks top court to consider appeal
The RNC constables made the application last week with the Supreme Court of Canada
Convicted sex offender Doug Snelgrove has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to hear his appeal — the last chance the police officer has to get his conviction overturned.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer filed the application June 19, two months after the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court unanimously dismissed his request to overturn his 2021 sexual assault conviction.
Statistically, his chances of having the case heard are slim; the Supreme Court of Canada hears approximately 80 out of 600 applications filed each year
Snelgrove sexually assaulted a woman he had driven home from a downtown bar in 2014. According to the woman's testimony, Snelgrove offered her a ride in his patrol car. When they arrived at her home, he helped her inside her living room.
The survivor testified she was intoxicated and can't remember consenting to any sexual acts between them, and said she only recalls regaining consciousness in the middle of a sex act.
Snelgrove first went to trial in 2017. He was acquitted at the time, but prosecutors appealed that decision, arguing the Supreme Court justice failed to consider Snelgrove's position of trust as a police officer when instructing the jury to make their decision.
The second trial in 2020 ended prematurely, however, which prompted a third trial a year later.
He was convicted at that trial but appealed the decision, arguing the provincial Supreme Court violated the Criminal Code during trial proceedings. Snelgrove's lawyers pointed to several instances in which Snelgrove wasn't present for conferences between lawyers and the judge, and argued that amounted to a miscarriage of justice.
Snelgrove was sentenced to four years in prison. He remains a constable on unpaid leave with the RNC, as internal disciplinary matters are halted during criminal proceedings.