Dramatic not guilty verdict broadcast live from Winnipeg court room

WINNIPEG – History was made in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday when a judge delivered the verdict in a murder trial live on camera.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Shane Perlmutter found Cassandra Knott, 30, not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2011 stabbing death of her husband Orzias Joram Knott, 34, in a downtown Winnipeg apartment building because he found she was acting in self-defence.

The decision was streamed live on globalnews.ca/winnipeg. The camera was permitted to show only the judge as he read the verdict and his reasons. It’s a first, very small step in giving the public more access to Manitoba courts. Most trials and other proceedings are already open to the public, but cameras have never before been permitted, making it very difficult for news media to inform the public about the workings of the justice system.

Perlmutter stated there was a history of verbal and physical abuse and he believes Knott genuinely feared for her life in the moments leading up to her death.

“I found the force used by the accused was reasonable,” said Perlmutter.

Knott stabbed her husband once in the chest with a kitchen steak knife on Feb. 18, 2011.

“I find she had a reasonable basis to believe she needed to defend herself,” said Perlmutter. “The deceased’s death is the unfortunate consequence.”

In reading his 52-page decision, Perlmutter detailed Knott’s years of abuse at the hands of her husband that started when she was just 15 years old.

While he said he agreed she acted in self-defence, he also said he was in no way endorsing the use of a weapon in the context of a domestic abuse.

The camera was ordered shut off as soon as the verdict was read. Knott immediately burst into tears and repeatedly hugged and thanked her lawyers.

After the proceedings, John Peter Flett, Cassandra Knott’s uncle, told Global News he was extremely relieved for his niece. He said he also thought it was great cameras were allowed in the courtroom as it gave others chance to “hear the whole story.”

He said he received several texts from family members who watched the live stream of the verdict.

A pilot project announced Sunday will allow the broadcast of decisions and appeals in three cases. These are proceedings where no witnesses testify, and no new evidence is presented. The province’s chief justices told reporters Tuesday that eventually certain courtrooms will be designated as on-camera at all times.

The next proceeding to be broadcast is Jerome Denis Labossiere’s appeal of his 2012 conviction on three counts of first-degree murder on April 30.