A man serving a life sentence in a mistaken identity murder case is appealing his conviction.
Lenny Lavallee was sentenced in June to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 16 years for the second-degree murder of Nicole Cooney.
In a notice of appeal filed Tuesday, Lavallee said he plans to argue the trial judge erred by allowing a witness’s out-of-court statement to be entered as evidence without addressing Lavallee’s arguments that it shouldn’t have been admitted.
On April 17, 2016, Cooney and her friend, Theresa Butler, were out for a walk in Inglewood, a northwest Edmonton neighbourhood. A few days earlier, Butler had ended a tumultuous relationship with Lavallee.
Court heard that Butler asked Cooney to hold her dog’s leash, while she walked ahead. Butler heard Lavellee’s voice, then a gunshot. Cooney, 30, was shot in the back and died at the scene.
Lavallee was arrested nearby, following a standoff with police.
He is serving his sentence at Edmonton Institution, according to the notice of appeal.