Could an unreasonable delay motion allow a convicted Aylmerite to walk?

Two Gatineau lawyers, Me Christian Deslauriers and Me Pierre-Olivier Lemieux, defending imprisoned Aylmer resident Khalid Gakmakge, are considering filing an unreasonable delay motion.

Gakmakge was sentenced by jury to life in prison with no chance of parole until 2025 back in March 2011 for having stabbed his 32-year-old estranged wife Lucia Medeiros. The murder, which shocked the Jardins Lavigne community, occurred on December 12, 2008.

However, in February 2015, the Quebec Court of Appeal (CA) declared a mistrial because the defendant was, in short, denied a full and complete defence, “which is his most fundamental Constitutional right,” said the ruling. The CA ordered a new second degree murder trial which has yet to take place.

The lawyers’ motion follows the Supreme Court’s Jordan decision this past summer which saw new delays announced. The ceiling or reasonable delay was set at 18 months for “cases going to trial in the provincial court, and at 30 months for cases going to trial in the superior court (or cases going to trial in the provincial court after a preliminary inquiry).”

Now in his mid 40s, Gakmakge has been in custody for more than 100 months since the December 2008 tragedy on Framboisiers Street.

 

However, the CA ordered the mistrial in February 2015. The new trial has yet to be announced, which is why Gakmakge’s lawyers filed this motion.

The reason why the CA ordered a new trial is linked to the testimony of an expert witness. During the trial, the blood-splatter and DNA expert provided a different scenario than what was
anticipated by the defense.

“At the preliminary inquiry, Ms Prévost said she was unable to express an opinion on sequence for the reasons she gave, and at trial, she found herself able to give an opinion on that issue without any new facts that were unavailable when she expressed her inability,” stated the CA’s ruling.

Her testimony was important for the Crown because the accused said he killed Mrs Medeiros in self-defense, after she stabbed him in bed. The Crown argued Gakmakge stabbed Medeiros first with a large kitchen knife and then attempted to commit suicide. Both were found by police in a pool of blood, Medeiros in the kitchen and Gakmakge in the bedroom.

During the trial, the expert witness’s new scenario supported the Crown’s theory. The defense complained saying they had been unable to counter her unexpected testimony, but the trial judge overruled the objection. The CA finally ruled that Gakmakge’s fundamental Constitutional right was not respected.

None of the lawyers returned our calls.