Three judges have reserved their decision on an appeal by Tammy and Kevin Goforth, who were convicted in the death of the a four-year-old girl in 2016.
They were also found guilty of harming her two-year-old sister.
The pair appeared by video in Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
The judges will release their decision at a later date to give them time to go over the evidence.
Tammy Goforth was found guilty of second-degree murder and unlawfully causing bodily harm. She was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years.
Her husband, Kevin Goforth, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Tammy argued the same evidence was used for her husband’s lesser manslaughter conviction. She’s asking for the same conviction or a new trial based on what they called an "inconsistency" in the two verdicts.
Kevin is appealing to have his manslaughter conviction overturned, with a new trial to follow.
The Crown told court that the jury considered the charges separately. Tammy was found to have direct intent, so she received the second-degree murder conviction. Court also heard from the Crown that Tammy made a conscious decision not to care for the children properly and that it wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgement.
The Crown added that the trial judge very carefully charged the jury to consider the charges separately.
Tammy’s lawyer Brian Pfefferle told court that social services failed by the putting the children in the care of the Goforths, but says that isn’t up to the appeal court to decide.
The lawyer representing Kevin said the maltreatment was completely overseen by Tammy, adding Kevin’s involvement with the girls was “exceedingly limited.”
The Crown argued that Kevin was an authority figure in the house and knew the condition of the children enough to justify manslaughter.
CTV's Cole Davenport is at court:
