Latest news with #ReneePomerance
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
New trial ordered for Windsor man sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder
The Court of Appeal of Ontario has ordered a new trial for a Windsor man serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. The panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges all agreed Justice Renee Pomerance made errors during the jury trial of John Wayne Pierre in September 2018. He was charged in 2016 in the death of Lesley Watterworth, who was his girlfriend at the time. The Crown argued that Pierre killed Watterworth in a fit of rage motivated by the fact that he recently found out she had a sexual relationship with another man. But his defence lawyer said her death amounted to manslaughter, not murder. While taking the stand in his own defence, Pierre testified in 2018 that the two began arguing after taking drugs. "I grabbed the knife off the stove and I started stabbing her," Pierre said in court. Medical professionals testified that Pierre's brain didn't function properly neurologically and that he had disorders related to stress, trauma and depression. Jury was not 'accurately' instructed, appeals court finds The panel of appeal court judges said the jury "was not accurately and sufficiently instructed" when it came to what's known as after-the-fact evidence — information brought up during trial about Pierre after Watterworth's death. The appeals court identified the Windsor justice misdirected the jury twice in her instructions prior to deliberations and did not provide a "limiting instruction" of the charge. The jury "was left unequipped with an accurate understanding of the law and the evidence," said Justice David Paciocco, the appeal court judge who authored the decision. Pierre's conviction has been set aside and the panel of judges has ordered a retrial.
Edmonton Journal
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Man who killed four members of Ontario Muslim family appealing convictions: doc
Article content The document says Veltman is challenging his convictions and seeking a new trial on grounds that the trial judge erred in admitting the 'ideological evidence,' and in admitting his statements to police, which it says were obtained in breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also argues the trial judge, Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance, erred in dismissing a defence application for mistrial. Veltman was sentenced in February 2024 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for hitting the Afzaal family with his truck on June 6, 2021, while they were out for a walk in London, Ont. Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal were killed in the attack. The couple's nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived. Pomerance ruled the murders, committed by a self-described white nationalist, were an act of terrorism. The case was the first time Canada's terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial.
CTV News
07-06-2025
- CTV News
Man who killed 4 members of Muslim family appealing convictions on 3 grounds: doc
Justice Renee Pomerance, left to right, Nathaniel Veltman, and Crown Prosecutor Kim Johnson are seen as the verdict is read in the Superior Court of Justice in Windsor, Ont., in a courtroom sketch made on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alexandra Newbould A court document shows a man convicted of murdering four members of a Muslim family and seriously injuring another in what the judge deemed to be an act of terrorism is appealing his convictions on three grounds. A lawyer representing Nathaniel Veltman filed a new notice of appeal in February, nearly a year after Veltman filed an initial inmate notice of appeal. The document says Veltman is challenging his convictions and seeking a new trial on grounds that the trial judge erred in admitting the 'ideological evidence,' and in admitting his statements to police, which it says were obtained in breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also argues the trial judge, Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance, erred in dismissing a defence application for mistrial. Veltman was sentenced in February 2024 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for hitting the Afzaal family with his truck on June 6, 2021, while they were out for a walk in London, Ont. Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal were killed in the attack. The couple's nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived. Pomerance ruled the murders, committed by a self-described white nationalist, were an act of terrorism. The case was the first time Canada's terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025 The Canadian Press
