Graham guilty of attempted murder in 2017 shooting
Julian Graham has been found guilty on all charges related to the attempted murder of Sean Smith in a Peterborough rooming house in 2017.
The judge-alone trial concluded Friday with Justice Stephen Bale’s decision.
He weighed all evidence presented and concluded that Graham was the man who shot Smith.
Smith had testified that he was shot in the leg by Graham who then left the room. He returned seconds later to finish him off.
“You’re going to die today, p--y,” Smith remembered hearing before a second shot was fired into his abdomen.
Smith survived the gunshots after several surgeries and a six-week hospital stay.
Smith had told police he came to Peterborough to do some offtrack betting at Stick’s bar on George Street on March 10, 2017. He told the court he then decided to go buy narcotics at a rooming house at Water and London streets where his friend Jessica Stammis lived.
He added while sitting in Stammis’ basement room, two men entered. They were introduced to him as “Jordan” and “Little Moe.” It was “Jordan” who Smith said shot him.
Defence lawyer Lisa Bristow said this was a case of mistaken identity and that “Jordan” was not Graham.
However, Smith pointed him out in court during a preliminary hearing in April. Stammis had previously picked out Graham in a police line up months after the shooting.
Graham had already been arrested by Peterborough police and was being held in custody.
The 36-year-old was charged with aggravated assault and several weapons offences. The attempted murder charge came weeks after his initial arrest.
Bale said he weighed all evidence presented and concluded Graham was indeed “Jordan.”
He decided this despite agreeing that Stammis may have been an unreliable witness considering her admitted problems with drug use.
He also disregarded Smith’s testimony that he came to Peterborough to do some off-track betting. Instead, Bale said he believes Smith came here to sell drugs and that he told his wife about the betting so he would have an explanation for the extra cash he came home with.
“But the only issue is whether the Crown has proven the accused, Julian Graham, was the person who shot Sean Smith,” Bale said.
“I’m satisfied Julian Graham is the person who shot Sean Smith and I find him guilty on all counts.”
Before court was adjourned, Crown attorney Sam Humphrey told the judge he was considering applying for a dangerous offender order against Graham.