A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has rejected a bid to overturn the conviction of Ibrahim Ali for the first-degree murder of a young teenage girl in Burnaby, B.C.
This decision comes amidst claims from Ali’s defence team of unreasonable trial delays.
Justice Lance Bernard delivered the ruling, which follows a motion filed by defence lawyer Kevin McCullough, Global News reported on Thursday.
The motion aimed to dismiss Ali’s conviction due to what the defence argued were excessively long delays in bringing the case to trial. McCullough asserted that if the time Ali spent in custody, totalling 63 months, were subtracted, the trial duration would fall within the 30-month threshold established by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Drea Humphrey of Rebel News reports on Day 1 of the trial of Ibrahim Ali a Syrian refugee that is accused of murdering 13-year-old Marrisa Shen.
FULL REPORT by @DreaHumphrey: https://t.co/jKwy5orZ0N pic.twitter.com/rvuJFd5vTW
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 8, 2023
Ali’s conviction stems from a horrific incident in July 2017 when the body of a 13-year-old girl was discovered in Burnaby’s Central Park. Last December, a jury found Ali guilty of first-degree murder, accepting the prosecution’s contention that he sexually assaulted and strangled the victim shortly after arriving in Canada as a Syrian refugee.
Ibrahim Ali has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old Burnaby, B.C. girl — mere months after he arrived in Canada as a single, military-aged refugee from Syria.
FULL STORY: https://t.co/34n8jSNUAp pic.twitter.com/XCnfQiBFgg
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) December 9, 2023
The case garnered attention not only for its harrowing details but also for the prolonged legal proceedings.
The victim’s family endured nearly six years of waiting before the trial concluded, with numerous pre-trial and in-trial delays exacerbating the ordeal.
The defence’s Jordan application sought to stay the proceedings on the grounds of failure to adhere to the 30-month trial time frame. McCullough argued that the delays were unjustifiable, given the severity of the charges against Ali and the impact of prolonged legal proceedings on both the defendant and the victim’s family.
Despite these arguments, Justice Bernard upheld Ali’s conviction, signalling that the court was not swayed by the defence’s claims of unreasonable delay.
The reasons behind the ruling have not yet been made public.
