A Prince George man will remain behind bars after an appeal of his second degree murder conviction was dismissed this week.
Found guilty by a jury, Gerald Miles Pattison, then 58 years old, was given the minimum sentence in October 2011 of life in prison with 10 years before eligibility for parole for the fatal shooting of Ryan Edward Hibbs, 27, three years earlier on Pattison's Salmon Valley property.
Central to the appeal was a 911 call that Pattiison had made shortly after the shooting and the legal nuances surrounding how the call could be used during the trial.
The B.C. Supreme Court Justice hearing the case ruled the call could not be admitted for its truth under the "spontaneous utterance exception" to the hearsay rule, partly over concern it may have been concocted.
But the judge did find it was admissible "for the limited purpose of providing evidence of his demeanour and emotional state very shortly after the events."
In the appeal, counsel representing Pattison argued the call should have been admitted for the truth of its contents and that the trial judge failed to instruct the jury that the call was admissible for its truth after it had been used by Crown prosecution in cross-examination.
In a ruling issued Monday, the B.C. Appeals Court disagreed, concluding in part that admitting the call for its truth would have allowed Pattison to sidestep general rules that prevent the accused from introducing his own "out-of-court" statements.
The Appeals Court also found the judge, when giving instructions to the jury, adequately addressed misstatements the Crown prosecutor had made regarding a forensic pathologist defence had called on Pattison's behalf.
The jury had effectively been asked to decide whether Pattison had acted in self defence when he shot Hibbs with a rifle after an argument erupted when Pattison refused to lend him $100. Expert witnesses called by Crown and defence counsels had opposing conclusions on how Hibbs died.
Pattison's ex-wife and her teenage daughter were living in a seperate home from Pattison on the property. Hibbs and his brother, who were nephews of hers, were also staying there.
