William Sandeson won’t have free legal aid for appeal [Video]

HALIFAX –

A judge has ruled that a stash of cryptocurrency belonging to a convicted Nova Scotia murderer means he won’t be receiving free legal aid for an appeal.

Justice Cindy Bourgeois said in a decision released Wednesday that William Sandeson — a former medical student who killed another student during a 2015 drug deal — had about $640,000 in bitcoin and cash when he was jailed.

Last year, Sandeson appealed his conviction of second-degree murder in the death of Taylor Samson but was refused funding for a lawyer by the province’s legal aid agency.

In her decision denying his appeal of that refusal, the Court of Appeal judge accepted that Sandeson has expenses to pay — including a lawsuit claim from the victim’s family — but concluded “a significant balance” would remain available to him.

Bourgeois wrote that Sandeson didn’t prove his debts would stop him from obtaining counsel, or that …