Connie Oakes arrested in Sask. for obstruction of justice
By Peggy Revell on June 7, 2018.
Medicine Hat News RCMP in Saskatchewan arrested Connie Oakes for obstruction of justice on Tuesday afternoon. According to an RCMP media release, 53-year-old Oakes of Nekaneet First Nation, was arrested and has been charged with obstruction of justice under section 139 of the Criminal Code. RCMP would not provide further details to the News about the ongoing investigation that began in December 2017. According to a CBC report, the obstruction charge is related to an April 5, 2017 incident which led to Oakes pleading guilty and being sentenced to 14 months for forcible confinement, uttering threats, aggravated assault and breaches. Oakes was remanded in custody and will appear Friday in Regina Provincial Court. Oakes and Wendy Scott were charged with first-degree murder following the stabbing death of Casey Armstrong in Medicine Hat in 2011. Oakes was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2013 by a jury, and subsequently sentenced in 2014 to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 14 years. This decision was overturned in April 2016 by the Court of Appeals, after the sole witness to the crime, Scott, was deemed to be unreliable due to her low cognitive abilities and the inconsistency of her testimony. Scott’s testimony was the only direct evidence linking Oakes to the murder. No DNA, fingerprints or any other physical evidence was presented at the trial. Scott, who has an IQ of 50, pled guilty to second-degree murder and testified against Oakes. She was sentenced in November 2012 to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years. That plea deal was also overturned and a new trial ordered. The charges against both Scott and Oakes were then stayed by the Crown and weren’t re-initiated within a year, so were withdrawn. On April 27, papers were files in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Medicine Hat that allege multiple members of the Medicine Hat Police Service and a Crown prosecutor participated in procuring a wrongful imprisonment and a wrongful conviction of Oakes, causing her damage. Oakes is suing for $1 million over her arrest, and ensuing years of trial and imprisonment surrounding the 2011 murder of Armstrong. 15-14
