Confession in killing ‘unreliable,’ lawyer argues
A man’s confession that he choked his teenage cousin after stabbing her to ensure she died proves he was trying to kill her, the prosecution argued on the final day of a murder trial Monday.
Court heard closing arguments in the trial of Joseph Ryan Sinclair, 23, who is charged with seconddegree murder in connection to the death of his 17-year-old cousin Leona Neapetung- Stevens.
During a lengthy interview with a detective, Sinclair told police that Neapetung-Stevens was his best friend, but that he was “jealous” and didn’t want her to be sad anymore when he stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife.
The cousins had spent the evening together on Oct. 30, 2016. After meeting for coffee downtown, they went to Sinclair’s house and drank alcohol together. Shortly after 1 a.m., Sinclair said he went up to bed and his cousin fell asleep on the couch. A short while later, Sinclair said he woke up and took a kitchen knife and began stabbing his cousin.
She resisted, he said, rolling on the floor and biting his hand when he shoved his fingers in her mouth to try to choke her, before stabbing her again in the back. He said he later tried to kill himself in a number of different ways.
When the trial started, court heard that Sinclair concedes he caused his cousin’s death, but denies intending to kill her, which would amount to manslaughter. But Crown prosecutor Kevin Mark told the court that Sinclair’s intent to kill Neapetung- Stevens is clear, particularly in his statement to police when he said, “I choked her some more because I didn’t want her to be alive.”
But Sinclair’s defence lawyer Naeem Rauf argued the confession and description of what transpired that night is “unreliable.”
“Just because he says he recalls the time and claims there was this conversation, it doesn’t mean that that was so,” Rauf said.
He said the statement, given during a five-hour interrogation after his client was released from hospital with self-inflicted wounds, is rife with uncertainty. Sinclair is speculating and theorizing, Rauf argued, repeatedly saying “probably,” “I don’t know,” and “I think.”
“He doesn’t know, he’s just guessing,” Rauff said, adding that with enough badgering someone will say almost anything.
He added that two of the witnesses told court that Sinclair was kind and gentle, and that Sinclair’s confession also shows that he cared deeply for his cousin.
He said it wouldn’t make sense for him to have been trying to kill her.
Responding to Rauf ’s arguments, Mark said that saying things like “I don’t know” or “I think” doesn’t necessarily denote confusion — it can also be a sign of evasiveness, or simply a turn of phrase.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Peter Michalyshyn reserved his verdict in the case until Thursday.