Photo courtesy of apnaroots.com
The lawyer for a man who killed his pregnant wife in 2006 and burned her body is being questioned in the B-C Court of Appeal.
Mukhtiar Panghali lawyer is trying to have his client’s second degree murder conviction overturned, saying the trial judge erred in admitting contentious expert evidence about the presence of a hematoma in Manjit Panghali’s charred remains, but later deciding to give it no weight.
Michael Tammen says hypothetically Panghali may have taken the stand and denied intending to kill his wife if he didn’t have to go up against expert evidence.
Tammen claims that could have led to a manslaughter conviction instead.
Several of the Appeal Court judges have asked if this argument would impact any trial where a judge decides to accept evidence but later decides not to use it.
But Tammen says he’s cautious not to make any general rules, he’s speaking about this one case.
His client is currently serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 15 years.
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