Man convicted in beating death seeks bail pending sentencing
Convicted killer Assmar Shlah should be freed on bail while he awaits sentencing for second-degree murder, his lawyer says.
Defence counsel Balfour Der appeared in the Court of Appeal Thursday seeking interim release for his client until he is sentenced in the killing of Calgarian Lukas Strasser-Hird.
Der told Justice Brian O’Ferrall he should grant his client bail under the same conditions he faced while awaiting trial in the Nov. 13, 2013, beating and stabbing death of Strasser-Hird.
He said Shlah should be released on either $35,000 cash, or a $70,000 surety on property, until an as yet to be determined sentencing date.
Crown prosecutor Sara Clive opposed Der’s application.
“The proposal that I had for the judge ... (was) that it would be on the same strict conditions as he was on prior to his trial,” Der said outside court, after O’Ferrall reserved his decision.
Among those conditions would be a curfew, he said.
Der said despite the fact Shlah was convicted, he believes his client has a strong argument for the appeal court to overturn the jury’s verdict.
“It is true that having been convicted that the presumption of innocence is gone, but the law still maintains that if a person has a meritorious ground of appeal and it’s not contrary to the public interest that they should be released pending the appeal,” he said.
“The person would, in essence, end up doing a lot of dead time sitting in a jail cell when they might ultimately succeed on their appeal,” Der said.
“That’s why ... if there’s some chance of success on the appeal he should be released.”
Der said jurors were wrong to convict Shlah, primarily on the weak evidence of four Crown witnesses.
Strasser-Hird’s father, Dale Hird, who attended the appeal hearing was disappointed at the thought one of his son’s convicted killers might be allowed to return to the streets.
“It’s pretty tough, we kind of thought this was all over for awhile,” Hird said.
Shlah, along with Franz Cabrera, were convicted by a jury last month of second-degree murder in the swarming death of Strasser-Hird, 18, in an alley behind a Calgary nightclub. Joch Pouk was convicted of manslaughter.
A sentencing date will be set Aug. 5.