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After the Colten Boushie trial: defence offers condolences; province explains why it won't appeal

"There is no going back; there is no making it right," Gerald Stanley's lawyer says
Scott Spencer
Scott Spencer, defence lawyer leaves the courthouse at the conclusion of testimony.

A day after the announcement that there will be no appeal of the not-guilty verdict, the lawyer defending Gerald Stanley in the shooting death of Colten Boushie issued a short statement.

“On behalf of the Stanley family, and my team, I offer our unreserved condolences to the Boushie/Baptiste family,” Scott Spencer said in a March 8 press release.

“The Stanley family is relieved that the criminal process is now complete, but this is not a happy day. A young man died, that is a terrible tragedy. There is no going back; there is no making it right.

“We hope that with time the Boushie/Baptiste family can begin to heal.”

colten boushie
22-year-old Colten Boushie was shot and killed on a farm in Saskatchewan in August 2016. - Facebook

On March 7, Saskatchewan’s assistant deputy attorney general Anthony Gerein announced the Crown will not file an appeal of the Stanley case. Stanley is a Saskatchewan farmer who was acquitted Feb. 9 of the second-degree murder of 22-year-old resident of Red Pheasant Cree Nation. The verdict prompted a day of protest across Canada and a nation-wide debate about the treatment of First Nations people in the Canadian court system.

Gerein prefaced his remarks by saying, “On behalf of public prosecutions and myself, I extend every sympathy to the Boushie family as they continue to suffer the loss of their loved one. How sad it is for everyone who knew him and those who will not get the chance to know him that he is gone far too soon.”

“I know there is much sadness on the decision not to appeal and that is unfortunate,” Gerein said, “but there can be no appeal because the law does not allow it. If you disagree with the law, debates about how the law ought to be need to happen outside the criminal courts, respectful dialogue where we all recommit to the duty we share to participate in the justice system….

 “The Crown can only appeal if the court made an error about the law alone. The Crown cannot appeal a disagreement over the facts, the interpretation of witness evidence or because a particular perspective leads to the opinion that the verdict was unreasonable.”

He said that while there had been public criticisms of the defence counsel for apparently excluding visual Indigenous people from the jury, “the defence counsel should not be faulted for using procedures available to them or putting forth the accused perspective. I expect anyone listening to what I am saying would, if charged themselves, expect as much from their lawyer. If there are questions about what the code allows and why it allows that, those are to be raised with the federal government.”

He added that there was no evidence that anything other than the trial evidence and the judge’s instructions guided them to their unanimous verdict. 

While he didn’t specifically mention accusations made of the jury that their decision was a racist one, he said, “To presume that because a jury chose a particular result, they, all 12 of them, must have acted improperly does them the greatest disservice. It hints at turning the justice system into the servant of an agenda instead of the means to determine whether a crime was proven, and it risks discouraging others from doing their duty in the future.”

Whether the law about jury procedures needs to change is a matter to take up with elected officials, said Gerein.

Baptiste family Colten Boushie
Jace Baptiste hugs his mother Debbie Baptiste while his uncle Alvin Baptiste holds an eagle feather during the National Day of Protest in North Battleford, Sask. Debbie Baptiste is the mother of Colten Boushie who was shot and killed last August. - AVERIL HALL

He also said public calls for an appeal are not a reason to grant one. “The Criminal Code does not allow an appeal for such reasons. The question at the trial was whether or not the jury on the evidence as presented in its entirety and on the judge’s instructions was unanimously sure Mr. Stanley was guilty under the law. Larger social issues and the shape of criminal procedure were not questions for them.”

He added, “If there are concerns about the police investigation, those should be directed to the police. If there are concerns about the prosecution, those concerns should be directed to me at public prosecutions." He stressed that those concerns must point to specific errors before they would be examined.

Another area of possible grounds for appeal is the conduct of the judge in his rulings and his instructions to the jury. Gerein said there was no basis for concluding the judge said or did anything to justify an appeal.

The criminal justice system, he said, is aimed at determining whether or not the judge or jury can be properly sure, satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of a person’s guilt.

“I urge no one to be discouraged or distrust the system. We are all in this together and must be united against crime and in the search for justice. Complainants need to come forward when they have been wronged. Witnesses need to come to court and testify sharing the truth. Good men and women will convict where they are sure it is right, but regardless of conclusions in a particular case, only if we all stand up and held police, help courts, can we discourage and defeat crime. That is how we achieve justice and safeguard us all.”

Gerein reiterated a need for all to work together.

“I hope that perhaps the openness of this will help [people] to understand prosecutors and those who are partnered in the justice system, that we want to do justice for everyone, that we need everyone to work with us to do that.”

 

This is an edited version of two stories that first appeared in the Battlefords News-Optimist, which had extensive coverage of the case.