GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES
Jury convicts Sharif on all 11 counts in connection with the 2017 rampage that left a city police officer and four bystanders injured
A jury found Abdulahi Hasan Sharif guilty Friday on all charges, including five counts of attempted murder, after a three-week trial that was in part defined by what wasn’t before the jury.
Sharif sat in the prisoner box and did not react as the jury delivered its verdict after 10 hours of deliberation that began Thursday.
The 32-year-old was accused of ramming Const. Mike Chernyk with a car, stabbing him and later leading police on a high-speed pursuit through downtown Edmonton in a U-haul truck. The truck collided with four pedestrians during the chase, all of whom survived.
Sharif was convicted of all 11 charges, which also included aggravated assault, dangerous driving and flight from a police officer causing bodily harm.
The Crown argued Sharif had intended to cause as much “chaos, destruction and indiscriminate death as possible” that night, without elaborating on motive. An amicus lawyer presenting another theory of the case, Greg Lazin, suggested Sharif might have simply been trying to flee police in the U-haul.
Chief Crown prosecutor Shelley Bykewich gave a prepared statement outside court, thanking city police and wishing the victims well. She did not take questions, or elaborate on why the Crown chose not to call certain evidence.
Sharif represented himself at trial, and declined to cross-examine any of the witnesses or testify in his defence. He earlier parted ways with high-profile defence attorney Tom Engel for reasons that remain unclear.
Lazin, a lawyer for 37 years, said he’s never seen a case where an accused refused to co-operate to the extent Sharif did. He has never spoken to Sharif, despite Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Paul Belzil repeated recommendations Sharif do so.
“How do I explain it? I don’t. I can’t,” Lazin said.
Sharif’s trial began two years after the attacks, on Oct 2, 2019. The Crown called more than 40 witnesses, including Chernyk and the four pedestrians.
After three weeks of testimony, Bykewich closed by saying Sharif ’s plan was to kill a police officer and stir up a response. He was still in the area hours later, she said, “because this was the next part of his plan. Bait the police and go out in a blaze of destruction.”
“Despite the accused’s best efforts to inflict chaos, destruction and indiscriminate death on the streets of Edmonton, he failed to kill anyone,” she said. “But that in no way diminishes his intent to kill.”
Lazin, who now lives in Victoria, was brought in as amicus curiae, a Latin term for “friend of the court.” He stressed to the jury that he was not Sharif ’s lawyer, but presented evidence that could support alternate theories of the case.
He pointed to testimony from witnesses who said the U-haul appeared to be out of control, suggesting Sharif may not have intentionally struck the pedestrians. He also raised evidence about whether he would have been able to see the pedestrians in the alley, and whether he veered to strike two women.
To convict someone of attempted murder, Lazin said, the jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the person intended to kill someone.
“Recklessness, the intention to inflict harm, even significant harm, is not enough,” he said. “There has to be a specific intent to kill.”
Lazin added that while the U-haul’s driving pattern could be interpreted as an attempt to kill people, the driver might “simply (be) looking for the easiest method of escape.”
Sharif refused Friday to participate in a pre-sentence report, a tool judges use in weighing punishments that often provides details on their backgrounds.
Sharif’s non-participation wasn’t the only unique aspect of the trial. The entire proceedings were translated into Somali by an interpreter, with each witness asked to speak in short sentences to allow time for translation.
Sentencing will take place Dec. 12 and 13.
Despite the accused’s best efforts to inflict chaos, destruction and indiscriminate death on the streets of Edmonton, he failed to kill anyone.