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Boisclair refused to testify the second time around and was later sentenced to three years in prison for contempt of court. Another witness died in 2007.

The second trial judge called the issues facing the Crown’s case “simply overwhelming” and acquitted both Farley and Chenier.

Boisclair was stabbed to death in 2013 in an unrelated crime at a rooming house.

Upon acquittal and his release from jail, Farley sued the Ottawa police, alleging malicious prosecution, negligent investigation and breach of his Charter rights.

Earlier this year, Ontario Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod ruled against Farley, citing no evidence of Farley’s claims, and ordered him to pay some of the force’s legal costs to the tune of $71,500.

Farley appealed that judgment, arguing that the judge “erred by weighing evidence and drawing inferences that were beyond his authority.”

Farley had claimed that police had “tunnel vision” in their investigation, though both he and Chenier had conceded in their preliminary hearings that there was enough evidence against them to go to trial.

For Farley’s lawsuit to be reinstated, he would have had to show that there weren’t reasonable and probable grounds to believe he committed the crime.

The Ontario Court of Appeal, in a decision released last week, said it ordered “a new trial after convictions had been entered at (the first) trial that was flawed by incorrect jury instructions and the admission of inadmissible hearsay evidence.”

The Crown, the appeal court said, “continued the prosecution only to fail due to evidentiary difficulties.”

In both cases, there were grounds to believe that Farley committed the crime based on the evidence in the police investigation. The appeal court dismissed Farley’s appeal and has now ordered he pay the force another $5,000 for their legal costs.

With files from Megan Gillis

syogaretnam@postmedia.com

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