Manslaughter conviction tossed over lack of aboriginals on Ontario juries

TORONTO – A convicted killer has won his bid to have his manslaughter finding tossed out on the basis that aboriginals were systematically excluded from Ontario jury rolls.

The Ontario Court of Appeal found the absence of aboriginal jurors violated Clifford Kokopenace’s constitutional rights.

The court ruled that the province had long known of the problem of aboriginal under-representation on juries but did little to address the issue.

The court ordered a new trial for Kokopenace, who was convicted in 2008 of stabbing a friend to death on the Grassy Narrows reserve in northwestern Ontario.

The jury had no aboriginals on the panel.

The Appeal Court had already upheld the manslaughter conviction as reasonable, but put the ruling on hold pending the outcome of the constitutional fight.