A Kelowna jury heard closing submissions Wednesday at the murder trial of Chad Alphonse.
Alphonse is accused of second-degree murder in the death of his good friend.
The killing happened two years ago in the Kelowna townhouse residence of the victim.
Waylon Jackson, 26, was stabbed twice including once in the heart. He quickly bled to death on the kitchen floor.
The knifing was the final violent act in a drunken physical fight between Jackson and his killer.
Alphonse grabbed his knife from his pocket after Jackson had beaten him with fists and a chair.
The prosecutor claimed Alphonse lashed out in anger after losing the fight.
“At the time of the stabbing, the fight was over and Mr. Jackson was walking away. Bringing a knife to a chair fight, in my submission, is not reasonable under the circumstances,” Crown Counsel Dave Grabavac said.
Grabavac called the killing deliberate, purposeful and intentional and argued it therefore constituted murder.
However, in his final submissions to the jury, Alphonse’s lawyer said the killing was self-defense.
Defence counsel Terry La Liberte said Alphonse believed Jackson, after dropping the chair, was about to grab his own large knife from the kitchen counter and Alphonse had to defend himself.
“The knife had a presence in that room and that’s what my client was reacting to. It is totally reasonable what he did, came out of that corner with his knife in his hand, and it was not excessive,” La Liberte said.
Alphonse also claims he was too drunk to form the deliberate intent to kill that’s necessary for a murder conviction.
However, the prosecutor argues Alphonse’s interactions with police just after the killing show he was lucid, observant and easily understood the situation he was in.
The jury will likely begin its deliberations Thursday after getting final instructions from the judge.
– with files from Jules Knox