A Victoria woman who was convicted of murdering her 18-month-old daughter is claiming that a juror in the case was biased.
Details of the allegation levelled by Kaela Janine Mehl were outlined in a preliminary B.C. Court of Appeal ruling on the case that was posted at the court’s website Thursday.
Mehl, who was convicted of the September 2015 first-degree murder of her daughter, Charlotte Cunningham, alleges that during the trial, one of the jurors repeatedly made physical gestures toward the victim’s father and his family as the jury was entering and exiting the courtroom.
She is expected to argue during her appeal hearing scheduled for December that the gestures should be interpreted as expressions of sympathy or support and indicated a bias against the accused.
The observations of 22 people who were in the courtroom, including Mehl, the lawyers, sheriffs and spectators in the public gallery, have been gathered for the appeal.
The Crown applied to have the trial judge, then-B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten, provide a report on whether she saw the juror in question make any gestures in the direction of the public gallery and, if so, the nature of the gestures.
Prosecutors argued that the issue the judge would be asked to address was not reflected on the record, is a central issue upon which the parties cannot agree and would assist in determining which version of events is most reliable.
Mehl’s lawyers argued that the judge’s report was not necessary, would not help with the central issues on the appeal and might draw the judge into issues properly reserved for the appeal.
A three-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed with Mehl’s position and declined to order that the judge provide a report.
The panel, including Justice Gregory Fitch, Justice Bruce Butler and Justice Patrice Abrioux, noted there was already plenty of evidence available concerning the juror’s conduct and was concerned about drawing the judge into a factual controversy.
“The potential for perceived unfairness is significant and is an additional factor we have considered in determining to dismiss the application.”
At trial, Mehl, who was engaged in a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband at the time of the offence, admitted she fed her daughter yogurt mixed with the prescription drug Zopiclone, a sleeping pill. The little girl died of an overdose of the drug. Mehl denied she intended to kill her daughter but the jury disagreed and found her guilty.
