N.B. appeal court explains why it overturned Dennis Oland’s murder conviction
FREDERICTON — The jury had enough evidence to reasonably convict Dennis Oland of murder, but was improperly instructed on what was needed to get there, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal says.
The appeal court quashed Oland’s second-degree murder conviction in the death of his multi-millionaire father, but did not give its full reasoning of its decision last October until a written ruling Thursday.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Chief Justice Ernest Drapeau said the verdict was not unreasonable, but the evidence was not so overwhelming that it undoubtedly would have withstood the trial judge’s legal error.
“No accused is entitled to a perfectly instructed jury. However, the appellant, like all who elect to be tried by judge and jury, had the right to a properly instructed jury,” said Drapeau.