An appeal by Douglas Hales has been dismissed. Hales was appealing his conviction in the death of Daleen Bosse at the Court of Appeal in Regina on Monday.
Bosse disappeared in 2004 and her body was discovered four years later outside of Saskatoon. Hales was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced Dec. 17 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
His lawyer said Justice Gerald Allbright erred in applying new rules surrounding so-called “Mr. Big stings.” The Crown used a confession Hales gave to undercover RCMP officers as a major part of its case. He argued on Monday that the undercover officer’s relationship with Hales was too close, and the confession should not have been used.
In an unprecedented move, Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal agreed to allow a CTV News camera in the courtroom for the appeal hearing.
CTV News and Global Television each submitted requests to record video inside the courtroom during an appeal hearing in the case of convicted murderer Douglas Hales.
A single camera and operator was situated in a static position in the courtroom for the duration of the Hales case. CTV News has agreed to provide the footage to other media outlets.
Douglas Hales’ Vancouver-based defence lawyer told the judges she had no objection to the media request, but raised concerns about publication bans involving some names in the case.
Crown prosecutor Dean Sinclair said he was personally opposed to the request. He said he was concerned about the negative impact it may have on judicial proceedings, such as the public being provided only with short sound bites instead of the full hearing.
CTV’s legal counsel said the material will be recorded and not broadcast live, and that the story on the court proceedings would be subject to the same rigor and ethics that reporters already observe.
The panel of three judges ruled in favour of the two media outlets.
With files from Dale Hunter
