Alberta seeks judicial review of federal justice minister’s decision granting new trial to man convicted in 1987 murder

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Alberta Attorney General Mickey Amery is working with his federal counterparts to hold a new trial with the convicted murderer who spent 35 years in prison and believes Attorney General Arif Virani has not provided enough information to support his conclusion that Roy Allan Sobotiak may have been wrongly convicted.

The Alberta Justice filed a federal court application last week to grant Sobotiak a new trial on the 1987 death of Susan Kaminsky. Virani reviewed the case under section 696 of the Criminal Code and found that “there is a reasonable basis to conclude that judicial abortion may occur.”

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But Amery said Virani’s notice to Alberta that would be responsible for Sobotiak’s new trial, does not fully explain how he came to this conclusion. It said Virani’s single page decision only said he had “completely reviewed the matter”.

“Mr. Sobortico was ruled by a jury of his peers and all his appeals were dismissed,” Alberta Division’s attorney John-Marc Dubé wrote in a federal court application.

“It can be an extraordinary remedy after determining that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a possible judicial abortion may occur.

Alberta asked the federal court to abandon Verani’s decision and ordered him to “provide transparent, understandable and reasonable written reasons.”

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Police accused Sobotiak of the first-degree murder of Sobotiak in 1989, two years after his disappearance on a night with Sobotiak and his mother. Sobotiak (Kaminsky used to be Babysat) is his 20s and the last person to meet Kaminsky Alive. Her body was never found.

The juror was convicted of second-degree murder in 1991, part of the trial was a video of him admitting he killed a secret policeman in Kaminsky.

Sobotiak insists on his innocence and appeals to the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. The former was fired in 1994, and the Supreme Court denied his appeal in 2004. He was never granted parole.

In 2021, Sobotiak applied for review of Section 696 of the Criminal Code, which allows anyone who exhausts the appeal to apply to the federal attorney general to check whether “miscarriage” occurred in his case.

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Virani ruled that there had been and awarded Sobotiak a new trial in February. The federal ministry said the decision was not a comment on Sobotiak’s guilt or innocence, but rather “returning matters to courts that can determine new relevant legal issues under the law.”

Amery, however, said there was no indication of how Virani came to the conclusion, including whether this was based on new evidence not presented before the court at the time of Sobotiak’s trial and appeal.

This makes it difficult for the Provincial Crown to determine whether there is a “reasonable possibility” Sobotiak will be re-convicted and whether it is in the public interest to prosecute him.

The Alberta application states that Virani’s ruling “implies the overall functioning of the judicial system (Alberta)” because Sobotiak’s case is handled by Alberta’s prosecutors, top trial courts and courts of appeals.

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After Virani ordered a new trial, the innocence of Sobotiak Canada said Sobotiak “is grateful for the minister’s decision and hopes he can become a free man as soon as possible.” He is 62 years old and imprisoned in a federal prison in Alberta.

Canada’s innocence said Sobortic’s case was reviewed by the Criminal Conviction Review Team, which investigated the application and made recommendations to the minister.

Those representing Sobotiak include Toronto attorney James Lockyer, whose past clients include high-profile appearance David Milgaard. Lockyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Amri’s office declined comments as the case remains before the court.

In 20 years, 200 applications have been filed for review of convictions under Section 696, with 30 cases later overturned.

– Canadian media files

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