A Saskatoon man who already spent more than two years in prison had his robbery conviction overturned by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal June 12.
Keith Clarence Napope, 34, was convicted by a jury in 2017 in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench for participating in a drug robbery during a home invasion where a man was killed. That same jury found Nappe not guilty of manslaughter in connection to the fatal stabbing of Johnathon Keenatch, 35.
Napope appealed both the conviction of participating in a robbery and his seven-year prison sentence. Justices Brian Barrington-Foote, Ralph Ottenbreit and Jerome Tholl heard the appeal and they sided with Napope on his appeal, ruling that the jury was improperly instructed by the trial judge.
“A properly instructed jury could not reasonably find Mr. Napope guilty of this patently dangerous robbery – the predicate offence in relation to the charge of unlawful act manslaughter – and not guilty of manslaughter, as he must also have been guilty of that offence. The verdicts are accordingly inconsistent and the conviction is unreasonable,” wrote Justice Barrington-Foote in the judges’ decision.
“The evidence on the manslaughter charge was so wound up with the evidence on the robbery charge that it was not logically separable,” continued the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal judges’ decision.
“That is so based on the issues and evidence in this case, and despite the fact that the offences have different elements. The issue was identity.
“It is entirely clear that these instructions, read as a whole, were not simply unclear. They were legally incorrect and misleading…” said the decision in part.
According to court records, four men forcibly entered Keenatch’s apartment on Nov. 17, 2014, to rob him and he was stabbed to death during that robbery.
Court records also show that Keenatch was a drug dealer and the four men were there to steal drugs and money. Keenatch was stabbed in the leg and a front tooth was knocked out. The lethal wound was a stab to his aorta.
Two pieces of evidence had linked Napope to the crime including DNA and eye witness evidence.
Bloodstains were found in the stairwell leading to Keenatch’s apartment and a DNA test showed those bloodstains contained Napope’s DNA. Another bloodstain produced a mixed sample of DNA matching both Napope and Keenatch. Napope’s DNA was also found on the shirt Keenatch was wearing when he was stabbed.
During the trial the court heard that there were two eyewitnesses in the apartment and one identified Napope.
But Napope testified that he wasn’t involved in the deadly robbery. He claimed he was assaulted and robbed earlier in the evening by two men and that one who was wearing a clown mask identical to a mask found in Keenatch’s clothing after he was stabbed to death. Napope said he hit one of his attackers but was knocked unconscious and was bleeding as a result of that altercation.
Napope’s robbery verdict was overturned and he was released.
