The forensic testing done on the now notorious brown Hugo Boss jacket belonging to Dennis Oland, a key piece of evidence in his murder trial, was an illegal search according to his defence team which is presenting its grounds of appeal in Fredericton before a panel of three Justices – including the Chief Justice of New Brunswick.
Alan Gold said that while police obtained a general warrant for forensic testing, they let the warrant expire before they even opened the bag containing the brown jacket, which was seized from Oland’s home one week after the discovery of Richard Oland’s body in his Far End Corporation office on Saint John’s Canterbury Street.
The jacket was found to have three areas confirmed for blood where the DNA profile matched that of Richard Oland, however Gold says the fact that they forensically tested this piece of clothing for the trace evidence is contrary to the Charter.
“They let the [warrant] lapse,” says Gold. “This was a separate search, it was not authorized under the initial warrant…our submission is that the trial judge should have said this was a section 8 violation, the DNA evidence was all obtained in violation of section 8.”
While being interviewed by police on July 7, 2011, Oland said that he was wearing a navy blazer the day before but was actually wearing the brown jacket when he went to visit his father. Gold argues that being a deliberate lie is an “unreasonable inference.”
It was an ‘arbitrary, not reasonable inference’ that Dennis getting colour of jacket wrong was anything other than ‘innocent mistake’ #Oland
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) October 18, 2016
Dry cleaners offered same dry service for brown jacket, but next day service asked for. No request for blood removal, no stains pointed out.
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) October 18, 2016
Oland’s defence team also took aim at the Crown’s failure to cross-examination Oland on certain issues while he was in the witness box. Gold argues that Oland was entitled to direct confrontation:
“So that he had a chance to demonstrate his credibility to the jury,” says Gold. “[Dennis Oland] never had that opportunity.”
Gold argues the Crown created a hypothetical narrative as to what went on between Oland and his father inside the Far End Corp office on July 6, 2011 and the jury was invited to decide the “real reasons” Oland went to Renforth Wharf.
He says the Oland and the defence couldn’t have anticipated this and Oland should have been challenged while testifying about these things but wasn’t.
Dennis #Oland‘s defence lawyer Alan Gold leaving the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/0lAu37kgUi
— CHSJ News (@chsjnews) October 18, 2016
Oland is looking to either be acquitted on the grounds of the verdict being unreasonable, or a new trial ordered.
Three days have been set aside at the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.
Below, you’ll find a recap of today’s hearing:
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