Murder Trial Leak Earns Conviction
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TORONTO — A retired Canadian police officer was convicted of contempt of court Friday because he handed out copies of U.S. and British news articles that contained information on a sensational murder case deemed off-limits to Canadians.
A jury in Guelph, Ontario, deliberated for less than an hour before convicting Gordon Domm, 58, of breaking a court-ordered publication ban on information from last year’s trial of Karla Homolka.
Homolka, 23, was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of two teen-age girls. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison and is expected to be the prosecution’s star witness at the murder trial of her ex-husband, Paul Bernardo, 29, now under way in St. Catharines, Canada.
The judge who ordered the publication ban--which applied to Canadian journalists, but not U.S. or British publications--said it was necessary to ensure an impartial jury for Bernardo. Domm argues that it really was intended to prevent public discussion of Homolka’s sentence.
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