Broken’ Legal Aid Alberta refused to pay for intellectually challenged woman’s appeal of murder conviction – APTN

October 23, 2015

CALGARY — The Alberta Court of Appeal in Calgary on Thursday ordered the province’s Attorney General to pay for an intellectually challenged woman’s successful appeal of a murder conviction because the legal aid agency refused to foot the bill on grounds the case had no merits.

It took the Court of Appeal’s three Justices, Peter Martin, Patricia Rowbotham and Brian O’Ferrall, mere minutes to arrive at the ruling in favour of Deborah Hatch, the Edmonton lawyer who took on the case of Wendy Scott, a 31 year-old Medicine Hat, Alta., resident who pleaded guilty to the 2011 murder of Casey Armstrong, 48. Scott was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

“For (Legal Aid Alberta) to say there is no merit to the appeal in the face of all they know is completely outrageous,” said Hatch, in an interview following the hearing. “It shows you we have a Legal Aid system that is very broken right now.”

Read More: http://aptn.ca/news/2015/10/23/albertas-broken-legal-aid-refused-to-pay-for-intellectually-challenged-womans-appeal-of-murder-conviction/