Shut out noise, judge tells jurors

The judge at the firstdegree murder trial of Xiu Jin Teng has i ssued a strong warning that jurors are to ignore Teng’s multiple outbursts and complaints about being unrepresented.

“On many occasions, Ms. Teng has said things in your presence about the fact that she does not have a lawyer,” Ontario Superior Court Judge Ian MacDonnell told the jurors Tuesday.

“On occasion, she has implied that she has been denied her right to a lawyer and that the court is responsible for that situation. … I must tell you that while you must not try to guess why she is in that situation, it is not because she has been denied a defence lawyer.”

MacDonnell was giving jurors his final instructions. They are expected to have the case in their hands by midday Wednesday.

The 41- year- old Teng is charged in the February 2012 death of her husband Dong Huang.

His body, wrapped in sheets and plastic, was discovered in a storage room on Feb. 29 that year by the couple’s l andlords, who feared Teng was about to move without paying the rent.

Experts have t estified that Huang, 41 at the time of his death, died f rom l i gature strangulation — there was a thin green cord found loosely tied around his neck — and that he had been struck on the head just before death, and perhaps also given a sedative, one or both of which may have prevented him from fighting back as he normally would have against his attacker.

Still, abrasions at his bound wrists and ankles suggest he struggled.

Teng has loudly complained in the jury’s presence that she has no lawyer, accused MacDonnell of denying her one, and regularly berated him as an “illegal” judge.

With near- saintly pat i ence, MacDonnell has borne the histrionics with the mildest of responses.

But Teng had such outbursts — including Tuesday, when at one point she refused to sit down and barked “Stop t alking to me!,” resulting in her being removed from the courtroom for the third time in the trial — so frequently that the judge felt the warning was required.

“Ms. Teng has also on many, many occasions in your presence asserted, often forcefully, that this trial is unlawful and unfair,” he told the jurors. “I must say to you, as firmly as I can, that if I were of the view that the proceedings at this trial were unfair, it would be my duty to do something about it.

“And if I were of the view that the trial was unlawful, or that I did not have jurisdiction to proceed, it would be my obligation to stop the proceedings,” he said.

As he warned jurors to ignore Teng’s remarks, MacDonnell also told them not to draw “any adverse inference against her or anyone else, including the prosecution, from her behaviour.”

Jurors have four possible verdicts — not guilty, or guilty of either first- degree murder, second- degree or manslaughter.

The judge is expected to complete his instructions on Wednesday morning.