Lawyer says Vader can be convicted of manslaughter to fix mistake

A Crown lawyer says the judge who used an outdated section of the Criminal Code in a murder verdict can fix the mistake by finding Travis Vader guilty of manslaughter instead.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas last month convicted Vader of second-degree murder in the deaths of missing Alberta couple Lyle and Marie McCann.

Prosecutor Ashley Finlayson writes in a brief that the Crown is opposed to a defence application for a mistrial because other remedies are available.

He says it’s also possible for the judge to use a different section of the Criminal Code, with more analysis, to find Vader guilty of second-degree murder.

The McCanns, in their late 70s, disappeared after setting out from their Edmonton-area home to go camping in British Columbia in 2010.

In finding Vader guilty, the judge used Section 230 of the Criminal Code, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1990.

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