Robert Latimer, who has served half of a 10-year sentence for killing his daughter in 1993, says he hopes the new federal government and Canada's top court will intervene in his case.

"I want a new trial," Latimer told CBC News in the first television interview he's given since going to prison.

"I want a jury to be able to decide whether my actions were criminal or not," Latimer said.

Robert Latimer (CP File Photo)

He said the justice system that convicted him lacked understanding of the condition of his daughter Tracy, who had a severe form of cerebral palsy.

"I really don't think this court has a realistic appreciation of just what was going on at the time," said Latimer.

Case went to Supreme Court

His case was initially heard in the Saskatchewan courts before going to the Supreme Court of Canada.

At the time of her death, Tracy was a 40-pound quadriplegic, a 12-year-old who functioned at the level of a three-month-old.

Latimer, a Saskatoon-area farmer, maintains that he killed his daughter as an act of mercy. He said she was in a lot of pain, despite what others have asserted.

"The doctor says [she was in pain]. Yet the community living groups say she enjoyed bowling."

Slams 'bogus claims'

"The courts have really, by their endorsements, allowed all these bogus claims to float," added Latimer.

"I mean, the courts are really no more honest than the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were running around confirming guilty verdicts before the first trial of me before 1994 or something."

On Oct. 24, 1993, Latimer placed Tracy in the cab of his Chevy pickup, ran a hose from the exhaust to the cab, climbed into the box of the truck, sat on a tire and watched her die, he has admitted.

On Nov. 4 that year, Latimer was charged with first-degree murder. He was convicted of second-degree murder a year later.

After a seven-year legal battle, the Supreme Court eventually upheld his conviction and life sentence, with no parole for 10 years.

Now, Latimer is hoping the newly elected Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper will help him.

Prepares counter-arguments

Working alone, he's compiled a book on his counter-arguments to the decision that put him in jail.

"I was arrested over 12 years ago. And it took them almost seven years to come to this conclusion, and I think they're going to have to re-conclude again," he said.

Latimer spoke of the time lost in "five years of being locked up," when asked if he is bitter or angry.

"People have to have the ability to appreciate that. The courts don't seem to think it was much."