By Canadian Press

Hearing set for two New Brunswick men whose murder convictions were overturned

Dec 23, 2023 | 1:36 PM

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — A hearing has been set for two New Brunswick men whose 1984 convictions for the killing of a man in Saint John were quashed Friday by the federal justice minister.

The co-president of Innocence Canada, an organization that works with the wrongfully convicted, says Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie are scheduled to appear in the Court of King’s Bench in Saint John on Jan. 4.

Ron Dalton says he hopes Crown prosecutors will say during the hearing that there is not enough evidence to support a new trial, and the charges against Mailman and Gillespie will be forever dismissed.

Arif Virani announced Friday that he was ordering a new trial for Mailman and Gillespie, who were convicted of second-degree murder in the Nov. 30, 1983 slaying of George Gilman Leeman.

Virani said in a news release that he had found a reasonable basis to conclude a miscarriage of justice occurred in the men’s convictions. 

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Dalton says lawyers with Innocence Canada will represent the men during the hearing, adding that he suspects it was scheduled so quickly because Mailman is terminally ill.

“I really don’t think there is anything there for the Crown to proceed on,” Dalton said in an interview. “No one anticipates them going ahead with a trial 40 years after the fact for an individual who has a terminal diagnosis and a second who is 80 years old.”

Dalton says he spoke with Mailman today and though he is in poor health, his spirits are considerably higher since Virani’s announcement.

“It’s the first time in 40 years that he went to bed and he’s not a convicted murderer,” Dalton said of Mailman’s night on Friday. “He’s already working on comments he would like to make on the courthouse steps when this is over.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2023.

The Canadian Press