FREDERICTON -- Lawyers for Dennis Oland have filed an appeal of his conviction on a charge of second-degree murder for the 2011 death of his father in Saint John, N.B.
"The verdict of second degree murder was an unreasonable verdict in law and not one that a reasonable jury, properly instructed, could judicially have arrived at," reads the notice of appeal filed Wednesday in Fredericton.
Oland was found guilty in December following a trial that lasted 55 days.
He was accused of killing Richard Oland, 69, in his Canterbury St. office in July 2011.
The well-known businessman had suffered 45 blunt and sharp force blows to his head, neck and hands, although no weapon was ever found.
The notice of appeal asks the court to allow the appeal, quash the conviction and direct a verdict of acquittal or order a new trial.
The document alleges the trial judge made multiple errors in his instructions to the jury, and cites his decision to admit certain pieces of evidence including some cell phone records and the results of forensic testing on Oland's brown sports jacket.
The document claims that forensic testing was not authorized by the search warrant for a search of Oland's home for a jacket, and therefore a further warrant authorizing a search of the jacket for trace evidence was required.
It claims that forensic testing was performed in violation of the appellant's section 8 Charter right against unreasonable search and seizure.
The defence lawyers also allege that the Crown prosecutor speculated on a number of points during his address to the jury without questioning the accused on those points during cross-examination.
They state that the cumulative effect of the alleged errors "and a review of the uncontested evidence in this case, supports the Appellant's submission that the verdict is unreasonable and that the Appellant's conviction constitutes a miscarriage of justice."
William Teed, the Oland family's lawyer issued an email Wednesday to say that the appeal had been filed, but "there will be no further comment at this time."
During the trial, the Crown focused on potential motives that included Dennis Oland's financial difficulties and the knowledge his father was having an affair.
The defence has also made application for Oland to be released from jail pending his appeal.
Affidavits in support of the bail request have been filed by Oland, his uncle Derek Oland, and his mother, Constance Oland.
Lawyers will seek bail on Feb. 12, the day after Oland's sentencing hearing.
