Dennis Oland murder appeal challenges evidence, jury instructions

Dennis Oland made "an innocent mistake" when he told police he was wearing a navy blazer while visitinghis father the night the New Brunswick businessmanwas murdered, his defence argued at his appeal hearing Tuesday in Fredericton.

And it was a coincidence the blood-stained brown sports jacket Oland was actually wearing that night was dry cleaned the morning afterSaint John police told him he was a suspect in the 2011 bludgeoning death of his father, multimillionaire Richard Oland, saidAlan Gold.

A Saint John Court of Queen's Benchjury found Dennis Oland, 48, guilty of second-degree murder on Dec. 19, 2015. The brown sports jacket was a key piece of the Crown's evidence. The Hugo Boss jacket had four small bloodstains on it and the DNA extracted from three of those areas matched his father's DNA profile.

Oland's three-member defence team is seeking to have his conviction overturned by New Brunswick's highest court, and either an acquittal entered or a new trial ordered.

Court of Appeal Chief Justice Ernest Drapeaupledged the three-justicepanel will provide a ruling "at the earliest opportunity," following the three-day hearing.

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Defence lawyers contendthe trial judgeerred in his instructions to the jury regardingOland's"after-the-fact conduct." They allege Justice John Walsh wrongly suggestedOland's"erroneous statement" about the colour of his jacket and the fact it was dry cleaned could be considered the actions of a guilty man.

Innocent events start to resemblethe actions of a guilty person only if you assume the person is guilty, Gold told the small courtroom filled with reporters and Oland supporters,asOlandlooked on from the prisoner's box, sporting a dark jacket, white shirt and red tie.

Post-offence conduct was"too tough an area for a jury of lay persons," said Gold.The jurors fell victim to the circumstantial evidence in the case,failingto locate"the boundary which separates permissible inference from impermissible speculation," thedefence's 88-pagewritten submission states.

"We have no complaints about the jury," Goldquickly added.The appeal is not an attack on the jurors, wholistened and "tried to do their job," he said.

It's the jury'sverdict the defence contends was "unreasonable" and a "miscarriage of justice."

The defence alsocontends the trial judge erred in law by admittingcertain pieces of evidence, includingOland'sblood-stainedbrown sports jacket, his father'scellphonerecords, and electronic communications between the appellant and his wife about their financial situation.

The Crown, however, maintains the evidence was "highly reliable," that the judge's instructions were "beyond sufficient" and that the jurors weighed all the evidence carefully.

"Despite the appellant's suggestion otherwise, the case against him was not a house of cards waiting to fall, but a structure based on a strong evidential foundation," the prosecutors state in theirwritten submission to the court.

The appellatecourtmust "determine on the whole of the evidence whether the verdict is one that a properly instructed jury, acting judicially, could reasonabl[y] have rendered," the 88-page document states.

• Dennis Oland jurors fell victim to circumstantial evidence, appeal alleges

The appeal is being heard by Chief Justice ErnestDrapeau, Justice MargaretLarleeand Justice KathleenQuigg.

CBC New Brunswick islivestreaming the hearing on www.cbc.ca/nb, but is not allowed to showOlandor members of the publicin the camera view.

Richard Oland, 69, was discovered lying face down in a pool of blood in his Saint John investment firm office on July 7, 2011.He had suffered 45 sharp and blunt force injuries to his head, neck and hands.

Dennis Olandwas the last known person to see him alive, during a meeting at his office the night before.

Olandis being represented by the same lawyers who handledhis trial:Gold, of Toronto, Gary Millerof Frederictonand James McConnellof Saint John.

Prosecutors Kathryn Gregory and Derek Weaver will serve for the Crown.

Oland is still seeking to be released on bail pending the outcome of his appeal.

The Court of Appeal of New Brunswick twice refused to grant Oland bail, saying it would undermine the public's confidence in the justice system to release a convicted murderer.

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear his bail appealon Oct. 31.