After a two week trial, and two and a half days worth of deliberations, the Kim Walker trial has wrapped up in Yorkton.
A twelve member jury convicted Walker of manslaughter on Thursday night. After the verdict was read he was immediately remanded in custody, and will remain there until he is sentenced on July 13th.
Arguments for exactly how long that sentence will be were made Friday morning. Crown Prosecutor Robin Ritter argued to dissuade vigilante justice that Walker should serve a higher sentence, and asked for eleven years, less three-and-a-half years for time already served.
“The fact a firearm was used, the fact that he was shot in his own home, the fact that he was unarmed, the fact that he was shot while he was down,” Ritter said to reporters outside the courthouse. “All of that.”
To solidify his case, Ritter had family members of James Hayward read victim impact statements to Justice Ellen Gunn. They described a constant pain since Hayward was shot eight years ago.
“It felt really good to finally be able to tell someone how my whole family feels, how I feel,” said Hayward’s Mom Lorrie Getty. “How it’s impacted my life and changed it forever.”
“He was my older brother,” added Dan Hayward. “He taught me how to shave, he was who I grew up with, and now I don’t have him anymore.”
The Walker family was left stunned and in tears after learning the crown was seeking the longer sentence, and voiced their displeasure outside the courthouse.
“I think that’s quite frankly a joke,” said Kim Walker’s daughter Jadah. “I feel that the crown prosecutor was very unprepared today, he had no reasoning, he had no cases to back that submission up.”
Defence lawyer Balfour Der argued that Kim Walker should spend no more time behind bars, noting he already served three-and-a-half years after being convicted of second degree murder in his first trial.
Der also revealed that they had offered a manslaughter plea to the crown twice in the past year. Both offers were turned down, but Der said Justice Gunn should take them into account.
“With the time he’s already served, he should get double credit for it, and so that would put him well past the four year minimum,” said Der. “The facts of this case just make it a minimum sentence case.”
After both submissions were made, Kim Walker rose in court and turned to Hayward’s family. He offered an apology, and said he would give anything to bring James back. It’s an apology that Hayward’s family says fell well short.
“It felt very insincere and very late, too late, too late to really be real,” said Lorrie Getty.
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