Laura Baziuk | Email news tips to laura.baziuk@corusent.com
1/7/2013
New details today in the case of a Surrey man who murdered his pregnant wife.
Then-Attorney General Wally Oppal made the case go in a different direction than planned.
Muhktiar Panghali originally faced second-degree murder in his wife's death in 2007.
In documents released today, the Criminal Justice Branch says it later decided to instead accept a guilty plea from Panghali for manslaughter.
But Oppal disagreed, saying he thought the case was strong enough and that the wife's death had been particularly brutal.
"The Criminal Justice Branch has the independent power to lay charges and to prosecute cases. But the public interest may require the attorney general from time to time to intervene."
He appointed a special prosecutor to continue the trial on second-degree murder.
Panghali was convicted in 2011.
The Criminal Justice Branch says that BC A-G's have similarly intervenely in only six cases since 1995.
|