Non-Aboriginal jury results in overturn of conviction

In a split decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed a manslaughter conviction against Clifford Kokopenace. The court ruled that the provincial government violated Kokopenace’s rights by failing to ensure Aboriginals were properly represented on jury rolls despite knowing about the long-standing problem. A non-Aboriginal jury in Kenora convicted Kokopenace in 2008 of stabbing a friend to death on the Grassy Narrows reserve. In 2011, the Appeal Court upheld the manslaughter conviction as reasonable. However, the court put the ruling on hold in light of the constitutional challenge sparked by the jury-representation issue.

“This case is of huge consequence because it leaves absolutely no doubt as to the extreme neglect on the part of the Ministry of the Attorney General as it relates to excluding First Nations from the jury rolls,” lawyer Julian Falconer told CP.  Falconer, who speaks for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which intervened in the appellate hearing, said the court has now laid out a standard of conduct for the Ontario government’s dealings with First Nations in the context of the justice system.