Murder charges stayed in 2014 gang slaying
In a rare move, prosecutors have stayed two first-degree murder charges against a pair of Edmonton suspects alleged to have killed a man in Richmond in 2014.
The charges against Sean Jacob Lee Jennings and David Nguyen were quietly tossed out on June 22, 2017, Crown spokesman Dan McLaughlin confirmed in an email.
The two had been charged with the first-degree murder of Theoren Gregory Poitras in a gangland shooting near a Richmond elementary school on Oct. 2, 2014.
Jennings, 29, and Nguyen, 26, had been set to go to trial in B.C. Supreme Court starting June 26.
“The decision to stay the charges in this case was made after further information was recently received by the prosecutor with conduct of the file. After reviewing this information and the rest of the file materials, the prosecutor concluded the charge-approval standard could no longer be met,” McLaughlin said. “Specifically that there was no longer a substantial likelihood of a conviction based on the available evidence. In these circumstances, a stay of proceedings is the appropriate course of action.”
He would not say what information the prosecution received.
Jennings’ lawyer, Andrew Nelson, said Monday that he was notified by the Crown five days before the trial was set to start that the charge was being stayed.
“They haven’t told me exactly why they stayed the charges. I mean I have my theories, but I can’t really speculate on why they did what they did,” Nelson said. “I can say that from what we know of the Crown’s case, we are not all that surprised that they decided to stay the charges.”
Nelson, who’s been practising law for seven years, said more senior colleagues have stressed how unusual it is to have murder charges stayed.
“I haven’t spoken to anybody yet who has had a first-degree murder charge stayed. So yes, it is incredibly rare,” Nelson said.
He said his client “was definitely relieved, but as I said, I don’t think he was all that surprised.”
Jennings is still facing a seconddegree murder charge in Alberta, where he is represented by another lawyer, Nelson said.
McLaughlin said a charge can only go forward if “Crown counsel is satisfied there is a strong, solid case of substance to present to the court.”
He said that charges could be stayed at any stage, even on the eve of a trial.
“If, at any point, the prosecutor concludes that the evidentiary standard is no longer met or that a prosecution is no longer required in the public interest a prosecution cannot proceed,” McLaughlin said.
When charges are stayed, they can be laid again if new evidence surfaces.
But Nelson said he doesn’t expect that to happen because of the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision laying out time limits for trials to be concluded.
“I am quite confident this is the end of it. But, of course, anything can happen and you have already seen that in this case not following the normal course,” he said.
Poitras, 25, was found face down lying in his own blood near RC Talmey Elementary School after neighbours called police about hearing shots in the area.
The Edmonton man, who police said had gang links, had been living in Richmond for several months before his slaying.
Nguyen was charged with the murder in May 2016. Jennings was charged in March 2015.
But both were earlier identified by police in B.C. as “persons of interest” in a Surrey home invasion and shooting that took place in September 2014.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which worked with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and Edmonton police on the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
Both Jennings and Nguyen were sued by a woman last summer who said she was tortured during a violent home invasion in Edmonton in July 2014.
The woman alleged that she was burned with cigarettes and nearly lost two of her toes when she was struck with an axe.
Nelson said he had read about the civil suit in the media, but did not have any information on whether the suit was ongoing.