Theragene brothers found not guilty by jury

Jury deliberates for two days

Federique and Jean-Paul Theragene embraced, shook hands with their lawyers and walked free from court as their robbery and assault trial ended abruptly Thursday evening with the jury’s not guilty verdict.

Court heard two wildly opposing accounts of what happened on May 11, 2017, that led Graham Walker to stagger bleeding into a Vanier Loblaws and plead with staff to call police.

Walker testified as the Crown’s key witness that he was beaten repeatedly after demanding $150 in overdue rent from Jean-Paul, then was held at gunpoint by Federique and forced to unlock a gun safe while his apartment was emptied of valuables, including Walker’s prized Colt .45 and AR-15 rifle.

The Theragene brothers each denied that account as they testified in their own defence and claimed Walker had been the aggressor that night, drunkenly waving his gun and angrily demanding the cash, which Jean-Paul went to retrieve from the same McArthur Avenue grocery store while his guests disarmed Walker.

The jury was told they did not need to decide which version they believed, only that they should acquit if they felt there was “reasonable doubt.”

Lawyers for the brothers gave several reasons to doubt Walker’s testimony, alleging that he was extremely drunk, that he was suffering from anxiety and depression, and the jury got “just a dose” of Walker’s angry side during trial, when he bristled at needling questions from defence lawyers.

The jury began deliberations Tuesday afternoon and returned late Thursday with a verdict.

Jean-Paul’s defence lawyer, Ewan Lyttle, told the jury in his closing address earlier this week his client had no criminal record and had never touched a gun.

Federique’s girlfriend, Brittny Richardson, also testified at trial and gave defence lawyer Jacob Legault an account that largely corroborated the brothers’ version.

Walker, in his testimony, called that version “a fantasy alternate universe,” and assistant Crown attorney John Semenoff told the jury the defence evidence was “full of material inconsistencies and contradictions.”

The defence countered by dismissing Walker’s account as a series of “astonishing” and “brutal” lies.

The defence argued it was Walker who had a motive.

“If Graham (Walker) took out his gun and pointed it at multiple people, then he committed a serious criminal offence,” Legault said. “And, if he realized the guns were taken — guns that were registered in his name — he would eventually have to explain that to police.

“It’s completely reasonable to assume the safe was left open, and he could never tell the police what really happened. … He’d therefore have to make up a story of being dragged to a safe and forced to open it.”

Jean-Paul and Federique Theragene politely declined to comment after Thursday’s verdict, as did their lawyers. ahelmer@postmedia.com Twitter.com/ helmera