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Murder suspect gets new trial

A new trial has been ordered for the man found guilty of using a machete to commit a murder in the parking lot of a Prince George fast food restaurant slightly more than five years ago. In a ruling issued Monday, the B.C.

A new trial has been ordered for the man found guilty of using a machete to commit a murder in the parking lot of a Prince George fast food restaurant slightly more than five years ago.

In a ruling issued Monday, the B.C. Court of Appeal Justice overturned the second-degree murder conviction for Ricky John Smith and ordered a new trial ruling.

They concluded the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Meiklem, "unfairly and inaccurately" summarized evidence from one of the forensic pathologists when giving instructions to the jury.

Smith was sentenced on March 22, 2006 to 13 years in prison before he could seek parole for an Oct. 30, 2004 attack that caused Brent Melanson to bleed to death in the parking lot of the Third Avenue Dairy Queen from cuts to his neck.

Co-accused Cameron Alexander Miller was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to four years behind bars.

Smith admitted to using a rough-edged machete and Dr. James McNaughton, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy, concluded that all six wounds were inflicted with the weapon.

But a forensic pathologist called by the defence, Dr. Nancy Rice, cast doubt on whether the source of several of the injuries and in particular killing blow.

The justices found that the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Meiklem, "unfairly emphasized" McNaughton's opportunity to observe Melanson's wounds at the autopsy and "improperly expressed his own view" that Rice's evidence was limited because she relied on photographs to assess the wounds.

Meiklem's comments were not "overly directive" in that he did not tell the jury they must ignore Rice's evidence, the justices found, but his repeated comments "nevertheless strongly suggested" that McNaughton's evidence should be accepted, thereby "inappropriately discounting" Rice's opinions.

The incident began in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 2004 when Smith, then 20 years old, and Miller, then 20, attended a Halloween weekend party at a Fourth Avenue apartment. Smith, who brought a machete with him, sprayed beer on Melanson's younger sister and in response, she called her brother to pick her up.

When Melanson, 20, arrived in his pickup truck with his fiancee, Nicole Middlemiss, he got in an altercation is some of the party-goers including Smith, who struck Melanson's vehicle with the machete.

Melanson and Middlemiss drove away to a pay phone at the Dairy Queen to call the police. Smith and Melanson left the party shortly afterwards as passengers in a vehicle with two girls and when they saw the truck and got out and ran towards the couple.

Smith was carrying the machete while no one saw Miller carrying a weapon.

Melanson got into the driver's side of his truck and closed the door and Middlemiss, who did not have time to get into the vehicle, ran onto the street to flag down help. Coincidentally, two police officers were driving by but only to see Smith and Miller running away and find Melanson bleeding from his neck.

Melanson was transported to hospital where he died from blood loss before a surgeon could save him.

During the trial, Smith denied hitting Melanson in the neck with the machete saying he used it to smash the driver's side window and then strike him in the leg while Miller had Melanson in a headlock. Shocked by what he'd done, Smith said he threw the machete to the ground and ran away.

Miller did not testify but in a statement to police said he was grappling with Melanson until Smith struck Melanson in the leg and that he was the one who ran away while Smith continued the attack.

While there was no direct evidence that Miller was wielding a knife, it was a central issue in the trial, the justices noted.

The appeal court's reasons were written by Justice Kathryn E. Neilson and concurred in by Justice M. Anne Rowles and Justice Pamela Kirkpatrick. Smith's appeal court hearing took place in Vancouver on Sept. 15, 2009.

mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca