A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stands outside the scene of a multiple homicide in Surrey, B.C. Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the Crown’s appeal in a 2007 gangland murder case, where two men argued police misconduct tainted their convictions.
Gangsters Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were both found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in 2014, seven years after the executions of six people in a highrise apartment building in Surrey, B.C.
Their lawyers argued before the high court last October that the judge in their initial trial erred in not allowing the men to provide evidence about allegations of “egregious” police conduct and their treatment in solitary confinement.
The Supreme Court says in a unanimous decision today it agrees with the B.C. Court of Appeal that it was a mistake to dismiss the applications to have all of that evidence heard.
The Supreme Court says Haevischer should have “a full chance to re-litigate all the issues.”
Johnston died in prison last December after the matter was argued before the Supreme Court.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.
