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NUNAVUT
The new lawyer for a man convicted of a triple-slaying in Cambridge Bay four years ago has launched an appeal, saying the jury did not get the entire story.

Chris Bishop's new lawyer set to appeal murder conviction, saying there's more information available than what the jury heard when they found Bishop guilty of three counts of murder. - NNSL file photo

Chris Bishop was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 16 years in late August 2010, for a triple-murder four years ago after a jury had found him guilty on three counts of murder and two of attempted murder that June.

Bishop's new defence lawyer, Toronto-based James Morton, said he will argue the jury did not get the entire story surrounding the killings.

"What I'm interested in, is information we know about that the jury didn't know, about the people who were involved in the incident," he said.

He would not elaborate, citing concerns information released to the media might taint a future jury should the appeal be successful.

An appeal would likely be heard in the spring or fall of next year with a decision probably expected by Christmas 2012, said Morton.

In the early hours of Jan. 6, 2007, four men broke into bishop's Cambridge Bay home with the intent to physically harm him. When they reached his bedroom, he opened fire on them with an assault rifle, followed them outside, still shooting, while they fled. Many of the shots were in the victims' backs and he shot one man dead while he was trying to crawl away, already injured by Bishop's bullets.

Keith Atatahak, 28, Kevin Komaksiut, 22, and Dean Costa, 29, died during the shooting. Antoinette Bernhardt and Logan Pigalak were shot but not fatally injured.

While sentencing Bishop, Justice John Vertes agreed with the defence that there were elements of self-defence in the case. He did, however, acknowledge that Bishop killed three men, some of whom were trying to escape – a level of violence completely unnecessary for self-protection, he said.

Morton said he decided to take on the case, he described as challenging and interesting, because it's an important one legally, and for Nunavut.

"It's the sort of thing a lawyer would be glad to work on," he said. "It's important, obviously, to the territory, because three people died and a community was affected, so it's very important to the people. Legally, it's very important because it raises a question about how the court considers self-defence – what does self-defense means if you're attacked in your own home, what can and what can you not do to protect yourself – so it's important to the entire country as well."

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