Larry Finck and Carline VandenElsen will soon find out if they have a chance
of getting their baby girl back.
Chief Justice Michael MacDonald of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal reserved
decision Thursday on the couple's appeal of a June 22 family court order
that placed their daughter in the permanent custody of the Children's Aid
Society of Halifax.
"I've got eight children . . . none of them are at risk," Mr. Finck told the
court.
The 51-year-old is serving 4½ years in the Springhill Institution for his
role in a three-day standoff with police on Shirley Street in Halifax in May 2004.
His wife, Ms. VandenElsen, is serving 3½ years at the Nova Institution in Truro.
The standoff began when police went to the home to enforce a court order
that placed the couple's baby daughter in the temporary care of the
Children's Aid Society.
A Halifax jury later convicted the couple of abducting their baby in
contravention of a child custody order, obstructing a police officer,
possessing an unregistered shotgun and possessing a shotgun dangerous to the
public peace.
Ms. VandenElsen was also found guilty of careless use of a shotgun, using a
shotgun while committing an indictable offence and threatening to use a
shotgun in committing an assault on police.