Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Upholds Acquittal

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Upholds Acquittal

Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 14:19

 

 

Saskatchewan’s highest court has dismissed the Crown’s appeal of a not guilty verdict in a baby abandonment case.

 

April Halkett was found not guilty of abandoning her baby when she gave birth to the boy and left him in a toilet in a Wal-Mart bathroom in 2007.

 

During her trial, a videotaped statement Halkett had given police was played, in which she said she hadn’t known she was pregnant, and when she gave birth, her baby didn’t move so she thought he was dead.

 

The Crown disagreed with the verdict handed down in June 2009 and took the case to the appeal court.

 

Prosecutors argued that Halkett should not have been acquitted simply because she didn’t intend to commit a crime; however, Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the acquittal.

 

Halkett’s lawyer, Pamela Cuelenaere, says her client is relieved by the decision.

 

“She’s very pleased that this has been completed and that we have a positive result for her, and she can carry on with her life.”

 

Cuelenaere calls the court’s decision a thoughtful one.