Jury instructions cited as one reason for appeal in hotel murder case

A notice of appeal has been filed for the man found guilty of first degree murder in the death of hotel manager Aly Sunderani.

Raja Dosanjh was found guilty of first degree murder on Aug. 1 in a Guelph courthouse and sentenced the same day to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years.

In the notice of appeal, four grounds are offered for the request, all attributed to what defence calls errors on the part of trial judge Gordon Lemon:

The trial judge erred in dismissing the s.8 Charter motion

The trial judge erred in admitting Crown evidence that was speculative

The trial judge erred in his jury instructions on eye witness testimony

The trial judge erred in his answer to the jury question

The grounds for appeal are not expanded on past those four reasons.

During deliberations at the trial, the jury posed a question to Lemon, asking: 'If we believe Mandy Passi did not tell her husband about a white guy can we infer Dalvir (Passi) got it from someone else?'

Lemon called the jury back into the courtroom and told jurors they have to assess the evidence they have and the reliability and credibility of any witnesses.

The jurors were called in once more a short time later after defence attorneys pointed out that Lemon specifically told jurors, 'Should you reject Mr. Passi's evidence — and you should.' Defence argued at the time that it sounded as if Lemon was instructing the jurors to reject Passi's testimony.

When Lemon told jurors that was not the impression he intended to give, several jurors nodded in agreement. Lemon apologized to all involved before sending the jury back into deliberations.

The next day, jurors came back with a guilty verdict in the case.

The notice of appeal was dated Aug. 29, within 30 days of the sentencing. No date is set to consider the appeal.

Dosanjh is currently being held in the Millhaven Assessment Unit at the maximum-security Milhaven Institution in Bath, Ont.