EDMONTON – Comments by Alberta’s solicitor general about the alleged injustice of Allyson McConnell’s sentence for drowning her two children border on the contemptuous, says McConnell’s lawyer.
Peter Royal chastised Solicitor General Jonathan Denis in a letter sent Monday evening to the Edmonton Journal.
“His comments upon the adequacy of the sentence as being ‘simply too lenient’ borders on the contemptuous,” said Royal, who represented the 34-year-old McConnell in court. “We strenuously object to the unfortunate comments made by the Attorney General and would suggest that his department’s pedestrian handling of this acquittal and sentence appeal has, in the circumstances, been less than satisfactory.”
On Monday, Denis said the province will push for appeals of both the conviction and the sentence, even though a deported McConnell is now apparently on her way to Australia.
“This is not over,” Denis said. “We will continue with the appeal until all avenues have been exhausted. And if the sentence of six years is increased to something more reasonable, we have full intentions of having her brought back from Australia to pay her debt to society.”
He said “absolutely everything” had been done in the McConnell case.
“We will continue this process until we feel justice has been served for the two deceased children,” Denis said.
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Last year, McConnell was convicted of manslaughter for drowning Connor, 2-1/2, and Jayden, 10 months, on or about Jan. 30, 2010 in the bathtub of the family’s home in Millet.
In his letter of response, Royal said Denis should have known that McConnell would be released on April 4 after a judge sentenced her to six years imprisonment, but reduced that to 15 months in recognition of the 2-1/2 years McConnell had spent in custody at Alberta Hospital. A deportation order was also filed Oct. 18, 2012.
“We fail to see how this could have taken the minister by surprise,” Royal wrote. “The Attorney General must act fairly and dispassionately and clearly here he has failed to do so. These are matters that are still before the Court of Appeal for argument and decision, and for the Attorney General to descend into the arena and make these sorts of comments is entirely inappropriate and indeed may constitute professional misconduct as a lawyer.”
Royal also questioned Denis’s comments that all reasonable steps had been taken to prosecute an appeal of McConnell’s sentence. Royal said there was an approximate five-month delay in filing supporting documents for the appeal with the court, after various extensions were granted.
“There was never an application to have an expedited hearing and no effort was made whatsoever to have this appeal heard in a timely fashion,” Royal said in the letter. “We can only assume that the Attorney General was not made aware of these facts.”
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