Second-guessing jury verdicts

The latest form of activism in Saskatoon is second-guessing jury verdicts involving Indigenous victims and claiming the verdicts were caused by racism. Only someone who witnessed the alleged crime or who watched the whole trial and heard all of the evidence, testimony, and arguments is in a position to evaluate the verdict unless it’s crystal clear that the jury erred.

In the case against Gerald Stanley, for approximately one and a half years, people heard the narrative that Colten Boushie and his friends got a flat tire and went for help to Stanley’s farm where Boushie was killed.

Based on this narrative, most people assumed that Stanley was guilty of murder and that this was a case of racism against Indigenous people.

People dug in with this position. People never heard Stanley’s side of the story, probably because his lawyer would advise him to not talk to the media.

During the trial, it became evident that the truth isn’t as clear cut as what people had been originally told and it became questionable whether Stanley had an intent to kill Boushie. Countless people wouldn’t change their minds about Stanley’s guilt regardless of the evidence presented during the trial.

Indigenous people have been treated badly throughout Canadian history. Indigenous people and their supporters should be seeking justice reform based on the racial disparity in police stops, criminal convictions, and sentencing rather than the cases against Stanley and Raymond Cormier. Ashu Solo, Saskatoon