N.S. appeal court will hear Christopher Garnier case in December

Four years after he killed an off-duty police officer and exactly two years after he was convicted of the crime, Christopher Garnier will go before Nova Scotia's highest court to argue he should get a new trial.

Lawyers for Garnier and the Crown agreed this week to take the case before a panel of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on Dec. 3 for half a day of arguments.

Garnier was convicted of second-degree murder in December 2017.

He was charged after thebody of Truro police officer Catherine Campbell was discovered under the Halifax approaches to the Macdonald Bridge, days after she disappeared on Sept. 11, 2015.

The conviction carried an automatic life sentence. Justice Josh Arnold ruled that Garnier must serve at least 13 years in prison before he can begin applying for parole.

Just weeks after his conviction on Dec. 21, 2017, Garnier filed his own notice of appeal from prison. In it, Garnier cited areas where he said Justice Arnold had erred including:

• Ruling that Garnier's charter rights were not violated;
• Ruling that Garnier's second statement to police was free and voluntary;
• Excluding an expert from testifying before the jury on the voluntariness of that statement ;
• The judge's final instructions were too complicated and convoluted for a jury to understand.

Nova Scotia Legal Aid has now taken over Garnier's case and lawyer Roger Burrill will be representing him in the appeal.

Burrill has indicated to the court that he will not be filing a new notice of appeal because everything is covered in the one Garnier himself filed.

It took longer than expected for Legal Aid to decide whether they would handle this appeal. Theyneeded to review a transcript of the trial before they could make that decision. Three deadlines passed before thattranscript was ready.

Outrage over Veterans Affairs tab

Even after he was sentenced, Garnier's case provoked national outrage when it was learned Veterans Affairs Canada was paying for his PTSD treatment.

He has never served in the Canadian military but because his father did, as a military police officer,Garnierwas entitled to gethis treatments paid for byVeterans AffairsCanada.

Garnier said he developed PTSD as a result of the murder. Following the outcry, Veterans Affairs amended its policy.