No new trial for B.C. serial killer because judge wasn’t biased: appeal court
VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Court of Appeal has rejected a serial killer’s application to have a new trial based on a claim that a judge implied the man’s lawyers behaved unethically.
Cody Legebokoff was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced in September 2014 to life in prison for killing three women and a girl in central B.C.
His lawyer Eric Gottardi told the B.C. Court of Appeal that the judge made disparaging comments about Legebokoff’s counsel but those views were only made public after a sentence was imposed.
The judge said Legebokoff’s lawyers had exaggerated and distorted evidence in a 2012 application to have the trial moved to Vancouver after opinion polls suggested greater media coverage about the case in Prince George would risk prejudicing potential jurors.