A lawyer for Ibrahim Ali is seeking to appeal his client's first-degree murder conviction in the killing of a 13-year-old girl in a British Columbia park, citing 25 grounds including allegations about "third-party suspects" and bias by the court.; Media wait outside B.C. Supreme Court, in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – A lawyer for Ibrahim Ali is seeking to appeal his client’s first-degree murder conviction in the killing of a 13-year-old girl in a British Columbia park, citing 25 grounds including allegations about “third-party suspects.”
The notice of appeal filed by Kevin McCullough says two other men were arrested for the killing, but the B.C. Supreme Court erred by refusing to allow evidence about them to be brought up at the trial.
The notice also describes “two Asian men” who McCullough says were seen carrying a heavy bag near where the girl’s body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in 2017.
Other grounds for appeal include alleged bias against the defence, a dispute over the Crown’s suggestion the girl did not have a boyfriend, and that the court didn’t properly address safety concerns about death threats made against Ali’s lawyers.
The trial concluded Friday with the jury convicting Ali of killing the girl who can’t be named because of a publication ban, although hearings on matters arising from the case continue.
McCullough also said in an interview and in an affidavit filed Monday that police told him someone close to the proceedings brought a handgun into the Vancouver courtroom on Friday with an intention to kill.
Police and the Ministry of Attorney General said Monday an investigation was ongoing.
Another affidavit describes more than a dozen messages received by McCullough and his firm that includes threats to kill the lawyer and his family.
A hearing on Tuesday in Vancouver was moved to courtroom 67, which is fitted with a metal detector.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023.
