The man sentenced to at least 18 years in prison for the murder of Calgary Stampeders player Mylan Hicks has filed an appeal, saying he was “wrongfully convicted for this senseless crime.”
Nelson Lugela, 21, was convicted in March of second-degree murder for the Sept. 25, 2016 shooting death of Hicks outside Marquee Beer Market. He was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 18 years.
Hicks was a defensive back on the Stampeders’ practice roster.
The trial heard that the team was at the nightclub celebrating a win and that an argument over a spilled drink escalated into an altercation in the parking lot, where Hicks was shot.
In a hand-written notice of appeal filed June 13, Lugela says the trial judge “heavily erred in accepting the evidence of a witness saying the deceased was shoot (sic) from the back twice instead of a stamped documentation from EMS stating the deceased was shoot (sic) from the front.”
It also says Lugela feels he was "led into a trap by my counsel at the time," when he was "sent to forensics."
The (doctors) kept asking me why I committed this gross crime and I didn't want to confess or make a reason as to why it happened," he wrote.
"I was said to have both problems with authority figures and be a high likelihood to re-offend or be called a menace to society."
The notice of appeal adds that the trial judge “neglected his powers and wrongfully convicted me,” as the evidence presented by Crown prosecutors “did not support a guilty verdict.”
Lugela is also applying for legal aid to pay for a lawyer.
