A new trial has been ordered for the man convicted of aggravated assault in Arley Cook's death, but acquitted of his murder. (Facebook)

By Susan McNeil

Appeal allowed

New trial ordered for man convicted of aggravated assault instead of manslaughter

Sep 15, 2025 | 2:40 PM

A new trial has been ordered for the man convicted of aggravated assault in a death in Black Lake several years ago.

The Crown appealed the verdict against Jerrick Stalthanee, who was charged and tried on manslaughter but convicted of the lesser crime by a judge in Prince Albert Court of King’s Bench in 2024.

They argued that the judge applied the wrong causation test, failed to consider uncontroverted evidence and speculated rather than relying on the evidence when he made his decision.

At the time, Justice G.A. Meschishnick said while there was no doubt that Stalthanee struck Arley Cook over the head and caused his skull to fracture, he was left with doubts about the role alcohol might have played.

“I am not quite convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the injuries resulted in death,” he said.

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He said that despite reviewing the medical evidence multiple times there still was a chance that alcohol was a factor.

In their written decision, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal disagreed with how he had assessed the evidence.

“Given that the causation issue concerns the underlying medical or physical cause of death, it is necessarily a contextual and fact-driven question, which engages the second category of error referred to in Hodgson,” wrote the appeal court. Hodgson is the case law cited in the appeal.

The decision goes on to say the judge did not properly analyze how Stalthanee’s actions led to the death of Arley Cook.

Cook was intoxicated when he died but also had blunt force trauma from being hit on the head with a frying pan.

“While excessive alcohol consumption may have exacerbated the axonal damage in this case (which is purely conjecture), that alone did not negate the unlawful conduct of Mr. Stalthanee as a contributing cause of death: as noted earlier, it ‘is not the function of a [trier of fact] to evaluate competing causes or to choose which is dominant provided they are satisfied that the accused’s acts can fairly be said to have made a significant contribution to the victim’s death,’” wrote the appeal court.

At the same time, the appeal judges did not feel the available information was clear enough to substitute a conviction for manslaughter over the assault charge so instead, a new trial was ordered.

The three judges were united in their decision.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social