The judge of the Superior Court of Ontario, Andrew Goodman, has been publicly reprimanded and was ordered to apologize with a man guilty of involuntary homicide after imposing a prison sentence two more years than expected at the end of the high profile case.
Goodman waited more than a year before admitting that he had intended to sentence Peter Khill to six years in prison for involuntary homicide, not eight.
Khill had been convicted in the death of Jonathan Styres, a father of two two nations of the 29 -year -old Cayuga, six nations of the Grand River.
The review panel of three people from the Canadian Judicial Council condemned Goodman’s “inaction”, calling it “a serious ethical period and a failure” in a decision published on Wednesday.
While Goodman apologized through the review process, the panel remained concerned that “he still fails to appreciate how the delay in correcting his mistake affects public confidence in the Judiciary.”
Goodman will keep his position in the Superior Court, he decided the review panel, since his conduct was not “so deeply destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence” to justify the elimination.
Goodman issued the wrong sentence in June 2023 after Khill’s three trials, multiple appeals and a ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada.
In August 2024, when Khill was in the process of appealing his sentence and condemnation, Goodman sent a letter to the Court of Appeals about his error. He said he had taken the incorrect printed copy of his decision on the way to the courtroom and realized the error when reading it aloud.
He did not correct immediately, said Goodman, “perhaps due to a variety of factors, even having read a long decision of 53 pages before a crowded and divergent audience, with a presence of substantial means, for this case of high profile.”
The Supreme Court will not listen to Khill’s appeal
After the audience, Goodman consulted several “experienced judicial colleagues” about rectifying their mistake, but was “deterred” to do so because the eight -year prison period was still an acceptable sentence for involuntary homicide, said Goodman.
It was not until Khill’s appeal was underway that Goodman was forced to present.
The review panel said that his mistake of reading the incorrect prayer was human and understandable. But his decision not to say anything for more than a year was not reasonable.
While Khill’s sentence ended up being reduced to six years by the Court of Appeals, and did not meet any extra time due to Goodman’s error, he still hit it, the review panel said.
“Mr. Khill, for a significant time, remained under the belief that he was sentenced to a substantially longer sentence,” the decision said. “It could well have been that if Judge Goodman’s mistake as to the duration of the sentence had been corrected immediately, there would have been no appeal.”
While the Court of Appeal had reduced Khill’s sentence, he did not revoke his conviction. Khill argued that he shot a gun in self -defense after finding the stripes that broke in his truck at the beginning of February 4, 2016.
Khill tried to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but this week, the Superior Court refused to listen to the case, marking its end.
As is the standard practice, the Superior Court did not give reasons for its decision not to allow the audition of the case.
