Stanley’s fate could be in hands of the jury today
By the end of today, seven women and five men will likely be asked to begin deliberating on the guilt or innocence of Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley, who is charged with seconddegree murder in the shooting death of Colten Boushie.
Here’s a look at the process:
JUDGE WILL READ INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURY
The Crown and defence are expected to deliver their closing statements. After that, Chief Justice Martel Popescul will read instructions to the jury. Popescul’s instructions will include the possible verdicts the jury can consider; he will walk jurors through the legal definitions of those verdicts.
University of Saskatchewan law professor Glen Luther said Popescul will likely ask the jury to consider three possible verdicts: guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter or acquittal (not guilty).
In order to find Stanley guilty of second-degree murder, the jury will need to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Stanley meant to cause Boushie’s death or meant to cause Boushie bodily harm that was likely to cause death. If a jury is not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Stanley intended to cause Boushie’s death, they could consider whether a manslaughter conviction is appropriate, Luther said.
The jury could find Stanley guilty of manslaughter if they are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he caused Boushie’s death while committing an unlawful act (such as pointing a firearm) or because of criminal negligence, he said. Criminal negligence causing death is “one of the more complicated offences” in the Criminal Code, Luther noted.
“There’s lots of cases at the Supreme Court level on what criminal negligence means, but generally the court has said that his actions need to show a wanton disregard for life and safety and, at best, be a marked and substantial departure from the standard of a reasonable person.”
Throughout Stanley’s trial, jurors have been able to go home at the end of the day.
However, once they have received their instructions, they will be sequestered until they reach a decision.
JURY TO DELIBERATE UNTIL A DECISION IS MADE
Luther would not hazard a guess about how long the jury in the Stanley trial may take to reach a decision.
“I’ve run many jury trials and they’re very unpredictable, it’s really hard to know,” he said. “To me, having lived through that before, I don’t have the ability to predict that. One hopes they’re going to take their job seriously and listen to the instructions, and because it’s complicated, it probably will take them some time, but it’s really hard to say.”
‘A VERY, VERY HIGH STANDARD OF PROOF’ NEEDED FOR CONVICTION
To find Stanley guilty of any offence, the jury members need to be convinced of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Obviously nothing can be proven to a certainty, but the standard of proving something beyond any reasonable doubt is a very, very high standard of proof and the judge will explain that because it’s not a natural exercise that we go through,” said criminal defence lawyer Mark Brayford.
“We often make everyday decisions based on probabilities rather than having to be almost sure, almost certain, and the decision before you can convict someone of a crime is that you’ve got to be almost certain,” said Brayford.
JURY MUST BE UNANIMOUS
In Canada, in order for a jury to reach a verdict in a criminal case, all 12 jurors must be in agreement.
If the jurors cannot agree, the jury is hung. In that case, the judge may ask the jury to try again or a mistrial could be declared.
“The chief justice will go to great lengths to try to convince them to make a decision,” Luther said.
When the jury reaches a decision, they inform the judge and court reconvenes. At that point, the jury foreman is invited to read the verdict in court.