The B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for a Prince George man accused of sexually interfering with a young girl.
In a decision issued on January 17, a three-judge panel found the trial judge who found Paul Peter Veeken guilty of the offence erred in law in by shifting the burden of proof onto the the defendant in commenting on his denial of the alleged acts.
"The judge was certainly entitled to reject the appellant’s evidence and find that it did not raise a reasonable doubt about his guilt," Justice Gregory Fitch wrote in the decision issued on behalf of the panel. "The difficulty in this case arises because of the judge’s conclusion that he could neither accept the appellant’s evidence nor find that it raised a reasonable doubt in the absence of independent and reliable evidence supporting his account. To approach the issue this way was to erroneously shift the burden to the accused to adduce evidence that confirmed his denial of wrongdoing."
It's the second time Paul Veeken has been given such a break. The first occurred in December 2017 when a jury trial was overturned after the BCCA concluded a judge's instruction regarding hearsay evidence was insufficient.
In both instances, Veeken was subsequently sentenced to two years in jail followed by one year probation.
