By Canadian Press

Alleged errors: Newfoundland man convicted in fatal bar shooting appeals

Mar 28, 2018 | 10:30 AM

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A Newfoundland man found guilty in the fatal shooting of a Good Samaritan who tried to intervene in a bar robbery has filed an appeal of his murder conviction.

A jury found 29-year-old Brandon Phillips guilty of second-degree murder in the 2015 death of former firefighter Larry Wellman.

Provincial Supreme Court Justice Valerie Marshall ruled in February that Phillips must serve at least 12 years of an automatic life sentence before he’s eligible for parole.

His application to appeal says the verdict is unreasonable and cannot be supported on the evidence.

It argues the judge erred in law on eight counts, including improper instructions to the jury on circumstantial evidence.

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Wellman, 63, died of massive blood loss from a single gunshot to the groin as he tried to stop the robbery at the Captain’s Quarters bar on Oct. 3, 2015.

Phillips was charged with first-degree murder but was found guilty of second-degree murder.

He is the ex-boyfriend of Premier Dwight Ball’s daughter, Jade Ball.

Last month, a Newfoundland judge upheld a partial publication ban on details in the case. The premier went to court to keep information involving his daughter under wraps.

He argued her privacy and health interests trumped the media’s right to report certain details he had shared with police before Phillips was arrested on Oct. 10, 2015.

At the time, it was less than two months before the provincial election that would make Ball premier.

Chief Justice Raymond Whalen of the provincial Supreme Court decided the partial ban was a reasonable protection of privacy that does not overly restrict the media’s right to report.

He stressed that press freedom is a “cornerstone” of democracy.

But he also said Ball’s willingness to promptly report to police private details that helped catch a killer was “commendable.”

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The Canadian Press