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IQALUIT
A man convicted of a triple slaying in Cambridge Bay five years ago should get a new trial because one witness's testimony should not have been allowed, the offender's lawyer argued in court last week.

Chris Bishop, 27, was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for 16 years after a jury found him guilty of three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He is appealing the sentence, but was not present in court last week. He is seen here outside the Nunavut Court of Justice in 2007. - NNSL file photo

Chris Bishop, 27, was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for 16 years in August 2010 after a jury found him guilty of three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Alberta justices Jean Cote, Patricia Rowbotham and Brian O'Ferrall of the Nunavut Court of Appeal in Iqaluit heard arguments from the defence and Crown on Sept. 25 as to whether the case should be retried.

The appeal proceeded in Bishop's absence, because he was not brought up from the federal penitentiary where he is serving a life sentence.

Bishop's defence lawyer, Toronto-based James Morton, argued in court that the jury should not have heard testimony from a witness in Yellowknife who had said Bishop boasted about shooting other people. At trial, it was determined the statement was untrue. Morton argued it's testimony the jury asked to have re-read, thus they clearly did not ignore it, he said. He added that the witness's testimony differed from the pre-trial process to the trial.

But Crown prosecutor David Littlefield argued that the jury twice hearing this testimony is being blown out of proportion by the defence because it consists of two sentences out of an entire trial.

He also said the defence did not raise an objection to the testimony at the time.

As well, Morton said evidence related to the violent nature of some of the home invaders at Bishop's residence, whom he shot, should be included. That is pertinent to how reasonable Bishop's violent actions were, according to Morton.

Littlefield argued that fact is completely irrelevant because Bishop did not know about it at the time of the fatal shootings. 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 lodged in the victims' backs and he shot dead one wounded man while he was trying to crawl away.

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

The court did not give a specific date when the ruling on the appeal can be expected.

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