Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear appeal in notorious ‘Surrey Six’ case

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear arguments about the fairness of B.C. proceedings that led to guilty findings for two men in the first-degree murders of six people.

Earlier this year, the B.C. Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston for the gang-related murders in what has become known as the “Surrey Six” case.

The Appeal Court didn’t order a new trial, concluding a B.C. Supreme Court judge did not err in excluding Haevischer and Johnston from a pretrial hearing in which a key witness testified behind closed doors.

However, the court ruled the trial judge did make a mistake in dismissing an application from the two men for a hearing that would have allowed them to contend their rights were violated by police misconduct and by a lengthy period of solitary confinement before trial.