Law360 Canada ( April 29, 2025, 2:39 PM EDT) -- Application by Melanson for leave to appeal sentence and appeal from conviction and sentence for robbery and unlawful confinement. The case involved an incident at Buddy’s Cannabis Clinic in Fredericton. Melanson invested $25,000 in the business, expecting a share of the profits, but became suspicious that his partners, Comeau and Cooper, were misappropriating funds. After failed attempts to formalize their agreement and recover his investment, Melanson, his wife, and three other men went to the clinic to take what he believed was owed to him. During the incident, Melanson and his group forcibly confined Comeau and an employee and took cannabis products, furniture and electronics worth approximately $6,500. Melanson received a sentence of three and a half years for the robbery, and an additional six months, to be served concurrently, for the unlawful confinement. Melanson appealed his conviction and sentence, arguing that the trial judge erred in not instructing the jury on self-defence and in the application of party liability. He claimed he believed he had a right to the property taken and that he acted in self-defence due to threats from Comeau. Melanson also contended that the judge’s instructions on party liability were overly broad and lacked a proper evidentiary foundation. Additionally, he sought leave to appeal his sentence, arguing that the judge failed to properly weigh mitigating factors and over-relied on the parity principle. The Crown argued that there was no air of reality to Melanson’s self-defence claim and that the judge’s instructions on party liability were adequate. They maintained that Melanson’s actions were not justified and that the sentence was appropriate given the circumstances....