SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Gerald Delorme, convicted in 2005 of second-degree murder in the brutal strangulation death of Justin Hai Van Vo two years prior, has lost an appeal to have his conviction overturned.

Delorme, serving a life sentence without parole for 14 years in an Edmonton federal penitentiary, asked the Supreme Court of Appeals to overturn the second-degree murder decision because, his lawyer argued, the judge committed a number of errors in his final instructions to the jury. That included, according to Delorme, a comment made that "undermined the presumption of innocence."

Justice John Vertes, in addressing the 12-person jury, said it's important "no one ever be found guilty of a crime he or she didn't commit" but it's "equally important that those who do commit crimes be strictly but fairly dealt with."

Justices Carole Conrad, Peter Martin and Bruce McDonald concluded that while the comment would have been "best left unsaid" it didn't corrupt the innocent until proven guilty principle.

Delorme argued in his appeal that Vertes didn't caution the jury enough on the testimony provided by accomplices Francis Yukon and Richard Tutin, and their motive to lie. Yukon pleaded guilty to manslaughter while Tutin admitted guilt to being an accessory to murder.

The seven-page decision, filed last week, stated that Vertes' comments to the jury in regards to testimony from Yukon and Tutin "was not fatal" to the jury's ability to properly reach its verdict.

Delorme, who was 40 at time of his trial, was convicted of strangling Vo, a fellow crack-cocaine dealer, with an extension cord on June 16, 2003. Vo was killed in a downtown crack house and, after being transported in a borrowed pickup truck, his killers attempted to burn his body near the Yellowknife River.

Vertes had also informed jury members that Yukon and Tutin had pleaded guilty to lesser charges, which Delorme argued gave the perception he was guilty. It was determined there was no merit in this argument as the judge mentioned the pleading to lesser charges as a "simple caution," and that Delorme should not be considered guilty because others had admitted to their involvement.