Gerald Stanley’s second-degree murder trial in the death of Colten Boushie is underway and emotions were high on Tuesday.
Two people on the jury of 12 had to be excused on Tuesday.
One couldn’t make it to court in Battleford due to road conditions and the other juror maintained they felt too burdened by the jury process – leaving the court no choice but to have the two alternates become official jurors.
Chief Justice Martel Popescul, who is presiding over the trial, told jurors not to view media reports, saying “it’s crucially important in this case especially that you ignore all those things.”
The Crown then made its opening statement.
WATCH BELOW: Full coverage of the Colten Boushie shooting
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The Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde
Crown’s Opening Statement
Crown prosecutor William Burge said the first three witnesses would be police officers.
“There may be serious contradictions” in witness testimony warned the Crown, who told jurors they would receive instructions on how to handle that.
Burge said Sheldon Stanley and his father, Gerald, were building a gate for a fence when a loud vehicle entered the yard.
Someone then got out and tried to start a quad before going back into the vehicle.
Burge said Sheldon Stanley approached it and struck the windshield with a hammer. The SUV driver then tried to back away and ended up colliding with another vehicle.
Burge stated Sheldon Stanley heard two gunshots when he went inside to get keys to another vehicle, presumably to chase the vehicle that entered, then heard a third shot and saw Gerald Stanley holding a gun.
It was then, said the Crown, when Sheldon Stanley saw Colten Boushie slumped over the driver’s seat.
Boushie had sustained a gunshot wound; two people remained inside the vehicle while two men ran off.
According to the Crown, Gerald Stanley often did mechanical work on vehicles in his yard so it was not uncommon for people to enter the farmyard to drop off a vehicle or parts.
First Witness
The first witness to take the stand was RCMP Cpl. Terry Heroux, who attended the scene after the shooting.
Heroux noted that he will be using a combination of his own notes and visuals during his testimony which begin with an aerial picture of Stanley’s farm.
According to Heroux, who is a forensic identification specialist, the call came in around 7:30 p.m. CT on Aug. 9, 2016, the day Boushie was shot and killed, and he arrived on-scene around five hours later.
RCMP used a drone to take aerials of the farmyard and police conducted searches of the yard in the early morning hours of Aug. 10 and 11.
Court was shown the images of the yard when RCMP first responded that night and what the farmyard looked like during daylight hours.
Heroux warned the court “this is a homicide investigation” and the images may be disturbing to some.
Debbie Baptiste, Boushie’s mother, then left the courtroom.
The images show in court Tuesday showed groove marks in the gravel, an ATV and other vehicles in the yard – two of which were Ford Escapes.
Heroux stated Boushie and the others were inside one of the vehicle’s, described as a 2003 grey Ford Escape.
Court was then shown another picture of what Heroux described as “part of a rifle” under a yellow safety blanket.
He went on to describe the partial rifle, which he testified had a bullet in the chamber along with five in the tubular magazine.
The action on the gun was bent, court heard, and was found on the ground near Boushie’s body
Boushie’s family became overwhelmed with emotion during the testimony and sobbed as they saw his body, as well as blood stains, inside the vehicle.
Rainfall is said to have washed away some of the blood the following day.
Court also heard the driver’s side front tire was completely gone on the grey 2003 Ford Escape.
Among the photos of the vehicle, which had a wheel without a tire, were images of bullet casings found in the yard.
Police found several other bullet casings in the yard and around the deck that were corroded, while the ones near the SUV weren’t.
Photos were also shown to the court of a Tokarev pistol and revolver handgun, seized from the property that day.
Several guns were taken from rooms in the house and others were seen leaning or hanging on a wall in a basement office.
Heroux testified that following the fatal shooting, it rained an estimated 44 millimetres and the vehicle Boushie was in was “sopping wet,” requiring it to be dried out before processing it for evidence.
They collected evidence on scene, including taking swabs. The processing inside the vehicle included taking items out of it.
The SUV was still in drive and the gas gauge showed empty during the police examination.
During testimony regarding the blood found inside the vehicle, Heroux said they didn’t find any spray, but that sometimes blood doesn’t always spray outward when a person is hit by a bullet because it can be absorbed by the individual’s clothing.
Cross Examination And Questions Surrounding The Way Evidence Was Processed
Stanley’s defence lawyer Scott Spencer began his cross-examination of Heroux with questions about the weather on day of the shooting and if there was any sign that the vehicle Boushie was in had stopped next to another vehicle in the yard.
Heroux testified that he didn’t notice any unusual marks to suggest it had stopped near the other vehicle.
Questioning was then redirected to whether RCMP had fingerprinted vehicles at another farmyard in the area, to which Heroux said he didn’t have anything to do with an investigation at the other farm.
Further to the line of questioning regarding fingerprints, Spencer asked the corporal if he was instructed not to collect fingerprint evident from the Boushie vehicle – in response he said the RCMP did a “full, complete examination of the vehicle,” including fingerprinting.
At some point the SUV was put into park. When Heroux was asked if when he turned it on again, if he had actually tried to see if would move – he said he hadn’t.
“That’s an admitted oversight. I should’ve tried that.”
Heroux also admitted that he didn’t know if a stock found at another farm belonged to the rifle inside the vehicle. While he said he recognized it, he couldn’t say for certain whether it belonged to the barrel in question.
The RCMP member was also grilled about how the blood spatter analysis was conducted and what happened to the vehicle Boushie was in after it was processed by police.
According to Heroux, it was taken to Astro Towing in Saskatoon and when asked why the defence wasn’t allowed to see it – he said it’s not his decision whether a vehicle is sent to a tow yard. But he did say, in his experience, vehicles have always been released after processing.
RCMP Blood Analyst
The second witness to take the stand was Sgt. Jennifer Barnes, a blood stain pattern analyst, who conducted an analysis.
During her brief testimony, she told the court how blood stain analysis worked and that a bloodstain was found on the barrel of the stock-less rifle in the vehicle that was found near Boushie’s body.
During cross-examination, the defence asked Barnes whether it’s better to attend the scene rather than base analysis off of images like she did.
She testified that attending the scene is always preferred, but may not yield better results and that her RCMP unit has a large coverage area so it’s not always possible.
Boushie’s Family
Outside the courthouse, Colten’s uncle Alvin Baptiste told media the family is taking things one day at a time and that healing will only be once this trial is over.
“The pictures are pretty graphic to see my nephew laying there and the blood splatter all over the vehicle like that and it’s reopening the wounds again.”
On Tuesday, Baptiste carried an eagle feather fan with him and explained the significance to reporters.
“This is for truth and justice, this is the symbolic symbol for First Nations people of the highest honour.”
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