Son of slain Alberta couple calls ‘zombie’ laws ‘booby traps’ for judges
ST. ALBERT, Alta. — An Alberta man who saw a murder conviction in the case of his missing parents replaced with manslaughter because of a judge’s error wants “zombie” sections of the Criminal Code removed.
Bret McCann said the section of the code that Justice Denny Thomas cited in his second-degree murder conviction against Travis Vader in September should be removed immediately, since it was declared unconstitutional decades ago.
McCann said it’s only a matter of time before a judge makes a similar mistake and accidentally applies an unconstitutional and out of date section in another case.
“The consternation and pain endured by my family because of this so-called zombie law is enormous,” McCann read from a prepared statement at a news conference on Sunday.