By Ryan Pilon

Appeal court restores Okemau’s not guilty verdict

Apr 5, 2011 | 2:29 PM

Chris Okemau will not go through another trial.

Honourable Justice Cameron, at the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, has restored the decision of the trial judge who found Okemau not guilty.

The 35 year old from Southend was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon in July 2008.

According to Okemau’s testimony, four young men came onto his property and assaulted his wife, so he grabbed a baseball bat to scare them off. They backed off, but continued to hang around in a threatening manner, so he moved towards them to get them away from his property. He followed them past the RCMP detachment located directly behind his home.

Okemau testified he was about to go into the detachment to file a complaint when he was shot twice by Const. Jasmyn Sawatzky, the lone officer on duty that day.

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Okemau was found not guilty at his trial, but the Attorney General appealed the acquittal to the Court of Queen’s Bench, which in turn ordered a new trial, believing the trial judge’s reasons for judgment were insufficient.

Cameron ruled in favour of the trial judge’s decision, saying that Okemau only brought out the bat to protect his home and that there weren’t any major conflicts between Okemau’s testimony and that of other witnesses.

Sawatzky was never charged for her actions after an internal investigation by the RCMP was conducted, but she was given a transfer.

rpilon@panow.com