The second day of the Gerald Stanley murder trial has concluded at the Battleford courthouse with opening statements and the first testimony in the case.
Firearms and expended casings found at the site of the shooting, blood spatter, the fingerprinting of vehicles found on the site and questions around what happened to the car in which Colten Boushie was shot were among the issues raised.
First up on the stand was Cpl. Terry Heroux of the RCMP who was called to the Stanley farm in the RM of Glenside on the evening of August 9.
The testimony included images of aerial and other photos of the Stanley property, as well as some disturbing images including an image of the 22-year-old shooting victim lying on the ground outside the open door of the vehicle he was in.
Sgt. Jennifer Barnes, an expert qualified in blood stain pattern analysis, was also on the stand during the afternoon before testimony wrapped up for the day.
Tuesday marked the first full day of testimony in the case following jury selection on Monday. Members of the Stanley family as well as Colten Boushie’s were in attendance. Boushie’s uncle Alvin Baptiste appeared at the courthouse carrying an eagle feather, meant to symbolize justice. Boushie’s mother, Debbie Baptiste, was also in the courtroom this day.
The day started with opening remarks of Crown prosecutor Bill Burge, who spent his time outlining what jurors would hear in the case.
Burge told the jury witnesses will start with three police officers who would describe the physical setup at the Stanley property. He described Colten Boushie as being inside a vehicle when he was shot and that he died of a gunshot wound.
In total, the Crown was planning to call 10 witnesses to the stand. Some “civilian witnesses” were expected to be called starting Wednesday, said Burge.
Burge told the jury that this trial will likely be shorter than most as several facts have been agreed to, allowing them to concentrate on the important issues of this case. He credited defence lawyer Scott Spencer for this calling him “very professional”.
According to the facts outlined by the Crown, Gerald Stanley resides in the Biggar area where he farmed and raised cattle, he also did mechanical work on vehicles. Burge said Sheldon Stanley, Gerald Stanley’s son, will be a witness and will testify about hearing a loud vehicle come into their yard and seeing someone coming out of the vehicle and try to start a quad.
Burge said Sheldon will testify this “caused a reaction,” that he ran towards the quad, yelling, and the individuals got back in their vehicle. Burge also noted Sheldon struck the windshield of the car with a hammer.
According to the opening statement by Burge, Sheldon was running inside to get his car keys, but as he was running he heard two gunshots, and then a third shot.
He soon after found Gerald standing beside the vehicle in which Boushie was slumped in the driver’s seat, with two women in the passenger seats. Two others from the vehicle had run away.
In other facts outlined by Burge, inside the Stanley residence a handgun was found, a pistol that had a magazine. Burge said a firearms expert will be called who has determined the expended cartridges were fired from a Russian-made Tokarev handgun. Experts found Boushie’s DNA on both the trigger guard and trigger hammer of the gun.
Burge also indicated the autopsy report will show the only significant injury to Boushie was the gunshot wound that entered through the back of the head and exited through his right neck, and that was the cause of death.
The final two witnesses Burge said he will call in the trial will include a firearms expert who will testify he did find the expended cartridge inside the vehicle.
After his opening statement, Burge proceeded to call Cpl. Heroux to the stand.
Heroux’s testimony that morning included plenty of image evidence. It included aerial photos from the Stanley farm, including the main yard, the driveway and the scene as Heroux arrived late that night.
Heroux then warned of some disturbing images, at which point a picture from the scene was shown of a grey 2003 Ford Escape, with a body covered by a blanket.
A picture of the quadrunner was also shown. There were also groove marks in the gravel road, also considered important.
There was also a second blue Ford Escape at the scene as well, southeast of the house.
Photos were also shown of a .22 rifle found beside the Boushie vehicle. Five bullets were found in the tubular magazine and one bullet was in the chamber of that rifle.
The most graphic images presented showed Boushie located outside the car, face down outside the vehicle’s open driver-side front door, with blood below the driver’s seat.
When Heroux resumed testimony following the break, more images were shown with the focus mainly on ammunition and shell casings found at the scene.
A bullet casing had been found with markings BXN-53. A second was found approximately 18 meters from the power pole in the yard in front of the Ford Escape.
Other casings were found near the front steps of the Stanley home and near the dog house. Some 17 corroded shells were found near the home. The casings found near the grey Escape were not corroded, however.
Testimony indicated there were 17 live rounds and 11 spent casings in the car.
Heroux also testified several guns were found on the Stanley farm.
Heroux went on to testify about what happened with the grey Ford Escape afterwards when it was transported to their secure bay in Saskatoon. Several more images were shown from that vehicle. Heroux indicated the car had been rained on.
After a break for lunch, the afternoon session continued with Heroux describing the search of the vehicle for bullets and for blood. The bullet that had killed Boushie was not found, Heroux testified.
In cross-examination, Spencer zeroed in on other vehicles on the lot that might have been rummaged through, asking if he was able to gather evidence of that. No fingerprints were found on a gold-coloured truck. Spencer also asked if he was able to find fingerprints on the quad. Heroux testified no fingerprints were found.
Spencer also focused on the grey Ford Escape and the rifle found beside the vehicle, with the barrel found beside Boushie. Heroux said he didn’t know where it came from.
He did note there were several live rounds and spent casings found. Spencer also addressed blood spatter. Heroux responded there wasn’t any blood spatter that he noted anywhere in the vehicle.
Later on Spencer hammered at Heroux over a contentious part of the case: when the grey Ford Escape was taken to the RCMP safety bay in Saskatoon.
Spencer wanted to know what happened to the vehicle after Heroux was finished with it. Heroux responded he informed Major Crimes the processing was complete, and it was towed away.
“I don’t know where they took it after that,” he said,
“Why would it not be maintained so that additional evidence could be gained from it?” Spencer asked.
Heroux admitted those were “questions I can’t answer.”
“Once the processing is complete, the processing is complete. Things aren’t held indefinitely,” Heroux said.
An incredulous Spencer asked “don’t you think the defence should have a chance to see if we could find the bullet?”
But Heroux held firm that proper practices were followed.
The second witness, Sgt. Barnes, testified on the findings of two of her reports, one based on her examination of the crime scene inside the vehicle and another of the .22 rifle found beside the Escape.
Her report was that the blood spatter and satellite stains on the driver side door and on the driver seat matched the DNA of Colten Boushie.
Barnes also explained why she had not examined the crime scene; the vehicle had been removed at that point.
She said she was able to determine that the stains were consistent with Colten Boushie bleeding onto the seat in the driver’s compartment.
But Spencer hammered away at Barnes for not being there in person, and for not being a DNA expert.
“You’ve looked at some photos and put a name to it,” said Spencer.
Barnes’ testimony was the last of the day and court was due to resume Wednesday morning at 10 a.m.
In speaking to reporters following the testimony, Boushie’s cousin Jade Tootoosis spoke to reporters, and said she and her family planned to continue to attend the trial every day. She also urged people interested to show up at the proceedings.
“It’s hard on us to sit there and to hear, just to be in there,” said Tootoosis. “I just want to encourage people to come out for themselves, come bear witness and hear it for themselves as everything unfolds, and just to be present. I encourage people to come out. It is open to the public to attend.”
The start to the day was a delayed due to treacherous weather and road conditions surrounding Battleford. When court convened at the 10 a.m. start time, it was learned one of the out-of-town jurors could not make it in due to the bad road conditions. That juror was excused; a second juror who had claimed personal hardship was also excused. The two alternates selected the previous day filled the jury positions.
