Convicted killer Bradley Barton asks Court of Appeal for 3rd trial for death of Cindy Gladue

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

Alberta's Court of Appeal heard arguments Thursday that a former Ontario truck driver should be tried for a third time in the 2011 death of Cindy Gladue

Bradley Barton, 54, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for manslaughter in the death of Gladue, a Métis and Cree woman who bled to death in a bathtub at the Yellowhead Inn in Edmonton.

Peter Sankoff, one of Barton's lawyers, said the exclusion of some evidence and the question of consent should warrant a new trial.

Sankoff said Barton was unlawfully detained for an exceptionally long period of time.

"You try spending 6 1/2 hours in police custody," Sankoff told reporters outside the courthouse. "That is not a pleasant time no matter how many coffees they bring you. You're not allowed to leave. That's the problem."

During the hearing, Sankoff referred to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"Everyone has rights," he said. "To deny someone their rights just because someone died is unjust."

Crown prosecutor Sarah Clive argued that officers had a duty to be thorough and accurate in their investigation.

"It was reasonably necessary to do so given the gravity of homicide."

Gladue, 36, was a sex worker that Barton had hired for two nights while he was in Edmonton.

Previous trials heard that the truck driver from Mississauga, Ont., performed a sexual act on Gladue that caused a severe wound to her vagina. He testified the sex was consensual.

Gladue also had four times the legal driving limit of alcohol in her system at the time of her death.

"We are dealing with vulnerable persons and a power imbalance," argued prosecutor Christine Rideout, adding that Gladue had too much alcohol in her system to consciously consent to the acts that resulted in her death.