Teen accused in slaying assaulted in courthouse washroom, lawyer says

A lawyer for a teen accused in the slaying of Burnaby teen Luka Gordic in Whistler told a judge Thursday that his client had been assaulted during a break in the trial.

Tensions have been high since the Vancouver trial of three teens accused in the May 2015 homicide began.

Sheriffs have taken extra measures to ensure security in the courtroom.

After the mid-morning break on Thursday, Brij Mohan, who represents one of the three accused, told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes that his client had been attacked by a “close” family member of the victim in a washroom on the fifth floor of the Vancouver Law Courts.

The defence lawyer said that if the situation didn’t improve, there would be an application to close the courtroom to the public.

The judge said he was sorry to hear about the alleged assault in B.C.’s largest courthouse.

“I’m greatly troubled by it. I think what I’d better do is withhold any specific comment until the sheriffs have had a chance to investigate the matter.”

The judge added that he believed the sheriffs had been doing an “excellent” job in ensuring safety and that the trial had been a “very difficult process” to date.

“One of the fundamentals that has to be observed at all times is that the courtroom is a place where the process of justice has to be able to play itself out without interference,” said the judge.

“That includes interference by word or by physical actions. It’s an absolute non-starter, it’s unacceptable.”

The accused appeared physically uninjured from the incident and returned to the courtroom for the rest of the day’s testimony.

The incident came after one of the three accused, none of whom can be identified due to a publication ban imposed by the judge, testified that he didn’t remember whether he’d stabbed Gordic because he’d been drinking heavily and taking drugs.

The teen, who was arrested with a bloody knife with Gordic’s DNA on it, said that at the time of the slaying, he was addicted to an antianxiety drug called Xanax and suffered from “gaps” and “blackouts” in his memory.

“Did you stab Luka Gordic?” Doug Jevning, the accused’s lawyer, said.

“I don’t remember,” replied the teen.

“Why do you think you don’t remember?” said Jevning.

“I think I was just extremely intoxicated,” said the teen.

The accused testified that he couldn’t recall what happened from when he was in a hot tub with a girl who was visiting the Whistler townhouse where the teen was staying until he was woken up the next morning in an RCMP holding cell.

Under cross-examination by Crown counsel Hank Reiner, the accused denied the prosecutor’s suggestion that he was just making up his memory problems in order to evade responsibility for stabbing Gordic.

The teen said he couldn’t remember how he got the knife or how he got the victim’s blood on his clothing.

Nor could he remember whether he was with a large group of youths the Crown says were looking for Gordic just before the 19-yearold victim was swarmed and stabbed.

“I don’t deny it,” he said. “I don’t say, yes it happened. I just don’t remember it happening.”

The trial continues.