TORONTO - A man who was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting and strangling a teenage girl in northern Ontario has had an appeal quashed.
James Kakegamic was convicted in 2005 of the first-degree murder of 16-year-old Jocelyn McDonald in 2000.
Kakegamic, who was 22 at the time of the killing and is now serving a sentence of life with no chance of parole for 25 years, appealed his conviction.
He argued that the trial judge's private conversations during jury selection with potential jurors to discuss their personal reasons for not being able to serve meant he was improperly excluded from his own trial.
The Court of Appeal for Ontario agrees he was improperly excluded, but in dismissing the appeal, the court says Kakegamic suffered no prejudice because of that.
McDonald was last seen at a party in Kakegamic's apartment in Kenora, Ont., in October 2000 and her remains were discovered March 2001 near the apartment complex.
