Crown won’t appeal farm shooting verdict
‘No justice there’: father of dead Indigenous man
REGINA — The father of a young Indigenous man who was killed on a Saskatchewan farm says he is heartbroken the Crown will not appeal the acquittal of the man accused in the fatal shooting.
Last month, a jury found Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Colten Boushie, who was 22 and from the Red Pheasant First Nation. The Crown said Wednesday there is no legal basis to appeal the verdict.
“There’s no justice there,” Pete Boushie told the Canadian Press from his home on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. “What else can I say?
“It just goes to show there is no justice in this world.”
Saskatchewan senior prosecutor Anthony Gerein said a verdict can’t be appealed simply because people don’t agree with it or because there might be questions about the investigation.
“The Crown can only appeal legal errors in the course of the trial,” he told a news conference.
“Public prosecutions lawyers, me, lawyers who do the appeal work here in Saskatchewan, experienced trial lawyers outside the appeal section … found no basis to appeal.”
The trial heard that Boushie was one of five young people who drove an SUV into Stanley’s farmyard near Biggar, Sask., in August 2016.
They testified that they were looking for help with a flat tire.
Stanley told the trial he thought they were trying to steal an all-terrain vehicle. He testified he fired warning shots to scare them away and the gun accidentally went off again when he reached for the keys in the SUV’s ignition.
The case was filled with racial tension from the beginning, and the verdict was met with outrage from Boushie’s relatives and their supporters.
After the verdict, family members met with federal ministers along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ask for changes to the justice system and to how juries are selected to better reflect Indigenous people.
Protests were also held around Canada to voice displeasure with the outcome of the case.
“I know there is much sadness about the decision not to appeal, but there can be no appeal because the law does not allow it,” Gerein said.
He said the Crown did not consult with the Boushie family about the decision, but Gerein spoke to lawyers on both sides and they informed their clients.
Boushie’s cousin, Jade Tootoosis, has said that the family felt excluded and ignored by the justice system following the shooting.
On Tuesday, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission launched a review into the RCMP’s investigation into the shooting.