B.C. Court of Appeal says “no miscarriage of justice” in sentencing of Poonam Randhawa’s killer

Poonam Dhillon and Ninderjit Singh in 1999.
Poonam Dhillon and Ninderjit Singh in 1999.

 

THE B.C. Court of Appeal says there was no miscarriage of justice in the sentencing of Poonam Randhawa’s killer, Ninderjit Singh.

This week the court issued reasons for upholding the conviction of Ninderjit Singh, 36, who had pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his former girlfriend, Poonam Dhillon, 18, in 1999.

Singh, who was arrested in California in August 2011 and subsequently extradited back to Canada to face a first-degree murder charge in the 1999 slaying of Vancouver school student Poonam Randhawa, 18, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder in B.C. Supreme Court. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 16 years.

But Singh filed a notice in the B.C. Court of Appeal against that conviction and sentence claims that Butler erred in a number of ways and wants a new trial ordered.

The three-member panel in dismissing Ninderjit Singh’s appeal, said in its summary statement: “The trial judge made the requisite inquiry into Mr. Singh’s

Ninderjit Singh in 2011 at the time of his arrest in the U.S.
Ninderjit Singh in 2011 at the time of his arrest in the U.S.

understanding of the plea and that he was entering his plea voluntarily. The strength of the Crown’s case was overwhelming, based on the evidence of an eyewitness to the murder, admissions and confessions, forensic and documentary evidence, and the appellant’s post-offence flight. There has been no miscarriage of justice.”

 

Decision at:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/CA/14/03/2014BCCA0373.htm