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Christy Natsis's lawyers file notice of appeal of convictions

Christy Natsis granted bail as lawyers appeal drunk-driving conviction

Pembroke dentist Christy Natsis, who was sentenced to five years in prison for impaired and dangerous driving causing death earlier this month, has brought in new lawyers to appeal her conviction and apply for bail.

Natsis was found guilty in May after a lengthy trial lasting nearly two and a half years, when Justice Neil Kozloff ruled she was impaired by alcohol when she crashed her SUV head-on into a pickup truck driven by Bryan Casey on Highway 17 near Arnprior March 31, 2011.

Casey, age 50, later died of his injuries.

A notice of appeal filed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Toronto Tuesday says Justice Neil Kozloff made the questionable legal decision to allow the testimony of biased expert witnesses who gave technically flawed evidence.

Specifically, the notice of appeal said a recent Supreme Court decision "that an expert who is unwilling or unable to provide 'fair, objective and non-partisan assistance' to the court cannot be permitted to testify" should apply to the testimony of OPP Const. Shawn Kelly, a technical traffic collision expert.

In October 2014, Kozloff found Kelly wasn't being objective when he met with and emailed the case's lead investigator but ruled his technical analysis was admissible.

The notice of appeal points to that Supreme Court decision which came down in April 2015, saying it came too late to factor into whether that analysis was admissible but in time to be factored into his decision of guilty or not guilty.

The notice also called into question Kozloff's decisions around the destruction of police draft reports and his reading of her defence's "detailed attack" on the expert evidence.

Natsis's new lawyers are seeking her conviction be quashed and she either be acquitted or given a new trial.

That legal team includes Marie Henein, who is currently representing former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi in his sexual assault trial.

Another member, Matthew Gourlay, said in an email that Natsis has filed for bail and the application will be heard in the court of appeal in Toronto on Friday.