Defence lawyer wields baseball bat to make point in manslaughter case
A defence lawyer representing an Île-Bizard resident accused of manslaughter slammed a baseball bat onto a desk twice before he began arguing that his client should be acquitted because he was acting in self-defence.
“Imagine that’s your head. What would you do,” Gregory Leslie asked the startled jury after he used a Louisville Slugger to produce two loud bangs that were probably heard outside the courtroom at the Montreal courthouse.
Leslie appeared to have prepared for drama because he had placed two thin books on the table precisely on the spot where he slammed the bat down.
Steve Barnes, 34, has been on trial since early April on a charge of manslaughter, alleging he killed George Berry on Nov. 14, 2015, outside Barnes’s home on St-Maurice St. in Île-Bizard. The jury heard evidence that Berry was a drug dealer who arrived at Barnes’s residence with the goal of collecting between $6,000 and $8,000 the accused owed him for drugs.
What is not in doubt is that Berry showed up with a baseball bat and attacked him with it. Barnes stabbed Berry in the stomach once and the victim bled to death. The Crown is arguing that Barnes could have avoided using violence.
“There was no evidence presented to you to suggest that my client expected to be struck,” Leslie said. “My client is innocent by Canadian law. This is a clear case of self-defence.”
The attorney then proceeded to review the evidence the jury heard during the trial. Matthew Reidl, 27, arrived at Barnes’s home with Berry. He said Berry hid the baseball bat at his side as Barnes exited his front door and he struck the accused twice after making “a beeline” toward him. Barnes testified that he feared for his life and that Reidl helped in the assault. The accused testified that both men continued to assault him as he reentered his home. He found a knife and stabbed Berry once. Reidl told the jury that Barnes appeared to be in shock after he dropped the knife and realized what he had done. An autopsy later revealed that the knife went 19 centimetres deep into the victim.
“(It’s) a serious wound. No doubt about it. It caused a death,” Leslie said. “Nobody wants that, but you have to ask yourself if Mr. Barnes acted within the law. “Mr. Barnes tried to retreat from the fight and the assault continued.”
During the trial, the jury was also presented with evidence of what Barnes told Montreal police officers immediately after they arrived that night.
“They came at me with a baseball bat. I had to defend myself,” Leslie quoted his client as having told one officer. Later on, when Barnes was arrested, he said: “I understand my rights. I’m being arrested for protecting myself.”
Barnes also gave the police a statement during which he admitted he used to sell drugs for Berry and knew him for a long time. He said that Berry’s behaviour changed in the weeks before the attack. Barnes attributed the change to Berry having broken up with someone he was in a relationship with and Berry ’s increased use of cocaine.
When the police arrived, blood was dripping from Barnes’s forehead to his face. The wound required five stitches to close. Barnes also told the officers that he had been suffered blows to the front and back of his body. Leslie told the jury he finds it strange that no police officer took photos of the bruises on Barnes’s body while they asked Reidl to remove his shirt to take photos of injuries he sustained in the altercation.
“In my respectful submission, you have to acquit,” Leslie said.
Superior Court Justice JeanFrançois Buffoni, the presiding judge in the trial, told the jury that they will be sequestered on Thursday.