Pubdate: Sat, 03 Feb 2007 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2007 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Author: Anne Kyle Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/joseph+walker WALKER APPEALS MURDER CONVICTION REGINA -- A Yorkton father who gunned down his teenage daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend in 2003 in a bid to save her from a life of drugs is appealing his second-degree murder conviction. On Jan. 19, a jury found Kimberley Joseph Walker -- who was originally charged with first-degree murder in the March 17, 2003, shooting death of James William Hayward -- guilty of second-degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced by Queen's Bench Justice Jennifer Pritchard to life in prison with no eligibility for parole until at least 10 years. According to his notice of appeal filed Friday in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, Walker is appealing on the grounds that the trial judge erred in law in not placing the defence of self-defence before the jury for consideration. Walker is also appealing on the grounds that Pritchard erred in instructing the jury to return a conviction only on one of three charges, that she failed to instruct the jury that it could return a verdict of not guilty and that she erred in not granting the defence motion for a mistrial after failing to instruct the jury that it could return a verdict of not guilty. Walker's lawyer, Morris Bodnar, is also raising the issue that the trial judge erred in not allowing Hayward's complete criminal record to be entered at trial for the consideration of the jury. His lawyer will also be arguing the judge's decision was contrary to the law, the evidence and the weight of the evidence presented at the nine-day jury trial in Yorkton. During the trial, the defence painted a sympathetic picture of Walker, a 50-year-old welder, as a loving father who was desperately trying to save his then 16-year-old daughter, Jadah, from her older live-in boyfriend, who was drawing her into a life of drug addiction. The jury heard evidence that Hayward, 24, bled to death from five gunshot wounds -- one in the back at close range -- after Walker went to Hayward's home and shot him in front of Jadah. During the trial, Bodnar called for a mistrial based on the Supreme Court of Canada's unanimous decision in October that ruled a judge could not take away a jury's ability to acquit. Pritchard said it was "terribly unfortunate" that she was not made aware of this case before the charge to the jury. She suggested she could recharge the jury with new instructions that they could acquit, but it would not be based on the law. However, that suggestion was opposed by both the Crown and defence in the case. Pritchard subsequently ruled she would not allow a mistrial nor would she reinstruct the jury. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin