The court has come to a decision involving two men accused of starting a house fire in Dauphin four years ago that severely burned a teenager who was inside the home.
27-year-old Sean and 25-year-old Seamus Nepinak were found guilty of 4 counts of arson on Friday under Manitoba Justice, but not guilty in participating on behalf of the activities of a criminal organization.
The post trial preceding, provided reasons for the decision including consistent evidence placing the men at the house during the time of the fire and documentation from the fire investigator stating that the fire was incendiary.
The defence for each men argued previously for a stay of proceedings, saying their clients' Charter rights had been breached due to the justice process taking more than 30 months, and citing precedence. The court dismissed the case in reasoning the seriousness of the charges outweighed the prejudice to the accused.
Justice Zinchuk scheduled a date of sentencing for June 26, 2017.
