Stanley trial hears of handgun irregularities
‘Unusual bulge’ in cartridge, Sask. jury told
• A firearms expert told Gerald Stanley’s second-degree murder trial Friday “something unusual happened” when Stanley’s handgun fired on Aug. 9, 2016, but he found no evidence the handgun was broken.
Sheldon Stanley, Stanley’s son, previously told the jury he heard three gunshots on the Stanley farm the day 22-year-old Colten Boushie died. He said he saw his father with a gun in one hand and a magazine in the other. According to him, his father said: “I don’t know what happened. It just went off. I just wanted to scare them.”
Firearms expert Greg Williams testified he studied three spent cartridges and determined they had been fired from a Tokarev handgun RCMP seized from Stanley’s house. Forensic analysis found Boushie’s DNA on it.
Two cartridges were found on the ground in Stanley’s yard, while a third was recovered from the grey SUV Boushie was sitting in when he was shot.
Williams said the cartridge from the SUV had an “unusual bulge,” but he didn’t know what caused it.
One possible explanation was a mechanical malfunction, but Williams said the handgun did not appear to be broken.
Williams said a bulge could have been caused by an obstruction in the barrel of the gun, but he did not observe any obstruction. He noted it could have been blown out by the bullet.
He said another possible explanation was defective ammunition, which could have caused a hang fire — a perceptible delay between when the trigger is pulled and when the bullet is fired. Williams stressed that such an event is “exceedingly rare” and that any delay would last less than a second.
Defence lawyer Scott Spencer asked whether Stanley’s ammunition — 1953 military surplus stock from Czechoslovakia that had been stored in a shed — could have been degraded. Williams agreed that age and storage are both factors in the degradation of ammunition.
John Ervin, a firearms expert called by the defence, agreed while a hang fire is rare, they are more common with older ammunition. “There’s not enough evidence to say there was a hang fire, nor is there enough evidence to say there was not a hang fire,” he said.
The Crown wrapped up its case Friday. Spencer asked to delay the delivering of his opening statement until Monday.