(File Photo/CKOM News Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Court Update

Sask. Court of Appeal overturns conviction, grants new trial for man found guilty in Rosthern stabbing

Nov 7, 2023 | 5:16 PM

A man previously found guilty of aggravated assault is getting a second chance to clear his name.

The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan officially granted a new trial for Keith Michael John who claimed his original trial judge was unfair. His convictions were also thrown away.

Back in 2016, John was found guilty of stabbing two brothers during a fight involving several people in Rosthern. He was designated a dangerous offender and was given an indeterminate sentence which means he wasn’t given a set amount of time to serve.

In a written decision, Justice Meghan McCreary agreed with John’s suggestion that his trial judge undermined his defence counsel’s strategy by intervening multiple times during the questioning of different witnesses.

She highlighted 10 different occasions which included the judge stating that John ‘knows how to play the system’ when his statement to police was brought up and telling one of the victims he could sue John to cover his medical expenses despite not yet being found guilty.

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In one incident, John’s defence counsel was able to get one of the witnesses to agree on the stand that they had lied throughout the entire proceeding. Afterward, the judge asked the witness multiple questions which, according to Justice McCreary, appeared to be aimed at restoring their credibility.

Justice McCreary also explained that the judge asked several questions that should have been left for the Crown to ask if they wanted to.

Meanwhile, John was scheduled to make an appearance in Saskatoon Provincial Court on Tuesday. It’s not known at this time whether a new trial date has been set.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow