William Sandeson asks Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to quash murder conviction

The Nova Scotian man convicted of second-degree murder in a high-profile case had his appeal heard in Halifax.

Representing himself from his prison in Quebec, William Sandeson asked the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to quash his conviction for the second-degree murder of Taylor Samson, issue a stay of proceedings, or at least reduce the time before he can apply for parole.

“A stay would not reverse the more than 10 years I have been incarcerated and would only modestly accelerate my timeline for a release, as I am eligible for day parole in less than two years,” Sandeson said Friday via video link.

Sandeson was originally found guilty of first-degree murder in a 2017 trial.

At the time, the Crown alleged Sandeson fatally shot Samson during a drug deal shortly after he arrived at Sandeson’s Henry Street apartment in Halifax around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2015.

The motive, according to the Crown, was financial gain as the accused had a large line of credit to pay off after attending medical school in the Caribbean.

Sandeson successfully appealed which forced a second trial where a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder.

Sandeson is now arguing police evidence found during a search of his apartment should never have been heard.

“There was no objective basis upon which to reasonably form the suspicion that Mr. Samson could be found in my apartment let alone suspect that he was in imminent danger,” said Sandeson.

He’s also questioning evidence brought to the crown by a private investigator his defence team had hired.

“I’m asking this court to definitively slam the door shut so that no future member of the criminal defence team nor any state actor might ever believe that society will tolerate their conspiring to subvert the criminal justice process behind the backs of accused,” he said.

The Crown admitted there were mistakes.

“This is the case where the police and the crown screwed up, screwed up big time,” said Crown prosecutor Timothy O’Leary.

Still, O’Leary argued all the evidence under discussion would ultimately have come out during the course of the police investigation.

“The police were searching for Taylor. They had exigent circumstances; a warrant was still hours away. The police had no information that Taylor was already dead, they had to err on the side of caution and try and find him. The search of the appellant’s apartment wasn’t perfect, but it was reasonable.”

O’Leary closed by saying the missteps did not warrant a stay of proceedings. The court has reserved its decision on Sandeson’s appeal.

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