The Supreme Court of Canada has restored a Calgary man's first-degree murder conviction, ruling his statements to police were admissible as evidence against him at trial.
Russell Tessier was originally found guilty by a jury in 2018, 11 years after the body of his friend Allan Gerald Berdahl, 36, was discovered in a ditch north of Calgary, on March 16, 2007.
"The accused exercised a free or meaningful choice to speak to the police and was not unfairly denied his right to silence," reads part of the 134-page decision. Tessier was "well aware of the consequences" of speaking with police and knew anything he said "could be used as evidence," wrote the majority, concluding Tessier "had an operating mind and was not otherwise tricked in the circumstances."Tessier's first contact with police took place on March 17, 2007.
The day after Berdhal's body was discovered, Tessier was interviewed by police. Investigators hoped to learn more about the victim and piece together his final hours.In fact, Tessier was interviewed twice that day without police placing him under arrest. Tessier was not advised of his right to a lawyer, to stay silent or told that his comments to police could be used against him.He eventually went home but hours later he contacted police again.
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