Much of Fraser\u2019s decision, however, focused on the actions of the Edmonton Police Service who, in an unprecedented move, <\/a>publicly criticized the Crown\u2019s handling of the case and threatened to release disturbing details about the young girl\u2019s death if prosecutors didn\u2019t back off an alleged plea deal.<\/p>\n Police Chief Warren Driechel later said the information might be released if police felt the sentence wasn\u2019t strong enough, putting Fraser himself in the crosshairs. Fraser called the actions\u00a0 of EPS \u201creprehensible\u201d and said they might amount to obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe veiled threat that they may release more information about this matter if they are not happy about the sentence I impose comes dangerously close, and may actually cross the line, into an attempt to willfully obstruct, pervert, or defeat the course of justice in a judicial proceeding,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n Fraser went so far as to say he had made his decision \u201cwithout any fear of the Edmonton Police Service\u2019s possible actions,\u201d which he called \u201cso far beyond what is acceptable conduct by the police service.\u201d<\/p>\n Pictured is a framed photo of Nina Napope Dumais, an eight-year-old girl who was killed more than two years ago.<\/p>\n What happened in the case?<\/p>\n Nina was one of four children under Rattlesnake\u2019s care. During her short life, she suffered what Fraser called \u201cterrible\u201d physical abuse. On the day of her death \u2014 April 22, 2023, \u2014 Rattlesnake and a man were using drugs in her bathroom<\/a> when the children started to fuss. When Rattlesnake returned, she told the man \u201csomething had happened\u201d and asked him to come to the other room. He emerged and saw Nina lying on the bedroom floor, unconscious and bleeding beside a hole in the wall.<\/p>\n Rattlesnake called friends, who packed Nina\u2019s body into a hockey bag and left it in the bed of a broken-down pickup on Samson Cree Nation. The man with whom Rattlesnake had been using drugs went to police.<\/p>\n How did EPS become involved?<\/p>\n Edmonton police investigated and charged Rattlesnake with murder. Those who helped hide Nina\u2019s remains were charged with committing an indignity to Nina\u2019s body. Two pleaded guilty last year<\/a> and were sentenced to just under three years in prison.<\/p>\n The case entered uncharted territory, though, at a police press conference<\/a> in September. Megan Hankewich, EPS\u2019s top lawyer, released a copy of a letter she had authored \u2014 with Driechel\u2019s endorsement \u2014 to the assistant deputy minister in charge of the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.<\/p>\n Edmonton Police Service acting executive director of legal services Megan Hankewich speaks to media about the Ashley Rattlesnake case on Sept. 10, 2025.<\/p>\n The letter outlined the police service\u2019s objections to an alleged plea deal to manslaughter in the case \u2014 as well as other frustrations with the Crown. Hankewich argued a plea to the lesser charge would amount to \u201ca significant miscarriage of justice,\u201d saying the abuse Nina suffered was among the worst investigators had ever seen. She said if the Crown went ahead, EPS would release graphic details about Nina\u2019s death so the public \u201ccan properly assess whether this prosecution and plea agreement were conducted appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n Hankewich also threatened to \u201cadvocate in the public forum for a stronger prosecution service\u201d \u2014 a line which took on new significance when two senior Edmonton prosecutors lost their jobs.<\/p>\n What was the reaction to EPS\u2019s move?<\/p>\n Nina\u2019s family have railed against<\/a> the eight-year sentence given to Rattlesnake and said they support EPS\u2019s intervention in the case. Premier Danielle Smith also spoke approvingly of the move.<\/p>\n Legal groups, however, said<\/a> EPS\u2019s actions were inappropriate. Courts have long stressed the need for separation between police and the prosecution to prevent wrongful convictions. Several lawyers noted detectives hand their files to the Crown when the case is strongest, and that the court process often whittles down what the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n During pre-trial proceedings, the first-degree murder charge against Rattlesnake dropped to second-degree<\/a> when prosecutors decided they couldn\u2019t prove Nina\u2019s killing was planned and deliberate. A significant hurdle to proving second-degree was the fact the girl suffered the head injury in a room where the were no witnesses.<\/p>\n Manslaughter, which Rattlesnake admitted to in September, does not require the Crown to prove an accused intended to cause someone\u2019s death, and unlike murder does not carry an automatic life sentence.<\/p>\n What\u2019s happened with the Crown<\/p>\n Adding fuel to the fire was the apparent firing<\/a> of two senior Crown officials, including Scott Niblock, the chief Crown in Edmonton. While he was not the prosecutor on the Rattlesnake case, Niblock would have been consulted on the decision to accept a plea to a lesser charge. A source told Postmedia<\/a> Niblock and deputy Ryan Abrams were escorted off the property in November.<\/p>\n Kimberley Goddard, the assistant deputy minister to whom EPS addressed the letter, has since been named a judge. Justice Minister Mickey Amery said<\/a> the move to terminate Niblock and Abrams was made by Elizabeth Wheaton, Goddard\u2019s temporary replacement, and that the ministry had no say in the decision.<\/p>\n The departure of the two Crowns sent chills through the prosecution service, with the Alberta Crown Attorneys\u2019 Association saying<\/a> prosecutors need new employment protections to insulate them from \u201cpolitical or improper external influence.\u201d<\/p>\n Court of King\u2019s Bench Justice Jody Fraser before his swearing-in in 2017.<\/p>\n What did the judge say<\/p>\n Fraser ultimately accepted Rattlesnake\u2019s guilty plea. During sentencing last month, he settled between the Crown \u2014 which asked for nine years in prison \u2014 and the defence \u2014 which sought seven years.<\/p>\n Fraser slammed Rattlesnake for the abuse Nina endured, noting the little girl had sepsis and other injuries at the time of her death. He said Rattlesnake \u201ccallously\u201d ignored the girl\u2019s suffering, noting Nina might have lived if Rattlesnake had sought immediate medical attention.<\/p>\n Instead, Rattlesnake and her associates \u201ctreated Nina\u2019s body almost as trash,\u201d then lied to police about where she was, the judge said.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Fraser said a manslaughter plea in the case was \u201ccompletely appropriate\u201d given the Crown couldn\u2019t prove how Nina suffered the fatal head injury.<\/p>\n What happens now?<\/p>\n Fraser said an eight-year prison term is in line with past sentences for similar offences. He granted Rattlesnake reductions for both her guilty plea and the public attention EPS brought to the case, known as a \u201ccollateral consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n Fraser also urged police leaders to brush up on the difference between police and prosecutors, noting numerous courts have found \u201cwhen that separation is not present, miscarriages of justice can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond that, it remains to be seen whether anything comes of Fraser\u2019s obstruction of justice comments. A judge suggesting someone broke the law doesn\u2019t mean that person will be charged, said Criminal Trial Lawyers\u2019 Association president Shawn King.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a suggestion that somebody go do something about it,\u201d King said. He noted it\u2019s not uncommon for judges to find witnesses lied on the stand, which does not automatically result in a perjury charge.<\/p>\n King said if anyone were to pursue a criminal complaint against EPS, it would have to be the alleged victims of obstruction \u2014 in other words Fraser, the Crown, or Rattlesnake herself. There is no indication anyone has done so. ASIRT, Alberta\u2019s police watchdog, said it isn\u2019t investigating the case, while the RCMP declined to comment.<\/p>\n Hankewich, for her part, could face professional misconduct proceedings for her role. King said the CTLA filed a complaint with the Alberta Law Society, the province\u2019s independent lawyer regulator, but was told one was already in the system. The law society declined to comment.<\/p>\n Fraser notably compared Hankewich\u2019s actions to those of ex-justice minister Kaycee Madu, who the law society reprimanded and ordered to pay $39,000 in legal costs<\/a> for calling then-EPS chief Dale McFee after receiving a traffic ticket.<\/p>\n Edmonton police said they are reviewing Fraser\u2019s decision and declined to comment.<\/p>\n jwakefield@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a> and EdmontonSun.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal<\/a> | The Edmonton Sun<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a stunning rebuke \u2014 a sitting judge dressing down a police service in some of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752,194336,209347,209348,209346,176042,203929,204970,67019,17790],"class_list":["post-534754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-police","tag-jody-fraser","tag-megan-hankewich","tag-nina-napope-dumais","tag-obstruction-of-justice","tag-police-service","tag-prosecutors","tag-rattlesnake","tag-the-crown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/388a73f53f01de697da37b69dffffebe.jpeg\"\/)
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