Murderer granted legal assistance for his appeal

Justice Neil Sharkey has ordered that the Attorney General pay for costs associated with an appeal by Jeffrey Salomonie, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2016.

Salomonie, found guilty in the 2009 death of 33-year-old Daisy Curley in Iqaluit and given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, has been denied representation through Legal Aid. The judge subsequently found an alternative for the Cape Dorset offender, who’s approximately 50 years old.

“To expect Mr. Salomonie, who is detained in an institution thousands of kilometers away from home (in Kingston, Ont), suffers from noticeable hearing loss, and is participating in the appeal of a first-degree murder conviction in his second language, to concisely and persuasively prosecute an appeal involving the legally complex grounds articulated by counsel is unrealistic,” Sharkey wrote in a decision released earlier this week. “It would not serve the interests of justice to deny Mr. Salomonie’s application to have counsel assigned.”

Salomonie’s appeal process has stalled since last November due to the lack of a lawyer.