Jurors are expected to listen to several hours of audiotaped testimony today as they continue deliberations to determine the fate of Gerald Stanley, the Saskatchewan farmer charged in the death of Colten Boushie.
The 56-year-old farmer has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Boushie, 22, was shot in August 2016.
The trial at Battleford Court of Queen's Bench, approximately 130 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, is nearing the end of its second week. Following jury selection, witness testimony and closing arguments from Crown and defence lawyers, the seven-woman, five-man jury was sequestered and began deliberating Thursday afternoon.
Just before 8:30 p.m. CST, the jury submitted a written request to Chief Justice Martel Popescul to listen again to certain portions of the testimony by Stanley and his son, Sheldon Stanley.
Much of the testimony covered details in the hours and minutes before the vehicle containing Boushie entered the Stanley farm's yard.
The Russian-made Tokarev semi-automatic pistol that Gerald Stanley says he was using that day. (RCMP)
But jurors are focused on the narrow time frame for the actual shooting, not any of the previous events, such as the Stanleys fixing the fence, or even the moment Stanley retrieved his handgun, noted Popescul.
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Popescul, senior Crown prosecutor Bill Burge and Gerald Stanley's lawyer, Scott Spencer, initially wondered if they could condense the tape to include only the relevant parts of the testimony. In the end, they decided it would be just as time consuming as letting the jury hear the entire testimony.
Stanley's testimony lasted roughly 2½ hours, while his son testified for more than an hour.
Deliberations are set to convene at 9 a.m. Friday, so the reviewing of the audio recording is expected to last into the noon hour.
Conditions for a murder conviction laid out
In his charge, Chief Justice Martel Popescul said that to convict Stanley of second-degree murder, the jury must find that he caused Boushie's death, it was done unlawfully and he had the state of mind to commit murder. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)
In his charge, or final instructions, to the jury, Popescul said jurors can find Stanley guilty of murder or manslaughter, or not guilty. He noted the jury must be unanimous on any verdict.
In his charge, Popescul said that to convict Stanley of second-degree murder, the jury must find that he caused Boushie's death, it was done unlawfully, and he had the state of mind to commit murder.
The Crown and defence already agreed that the first element has been proved, Popescul said. The deliberations will focus on the second and third elements.
Either extreme recklessness or intention are necessary to prove murder, Popescul said. If someone was killed but it wasn't intentional and could not be foreseen, that may lead to a conviction on the lesser offence of manslaughter, he said.
"The difference between murder and manslaughter is not easy to define."
The judge said the jury must follow legal principles and not be swayed by passion, bias or public opinion.
He encouraged jurors to "use your collective common sense" to evaluate witness reliability, including whether their testimony was consistent with previous statements, and to weigh testimony based on whether it was observed or second hand.
During their closing arguments, both lawyers accused some of the witnesses of lying.
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