Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Judge tells Ibrahim Ali jury to disregard testimony of Crown witness who died

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 07 Nov, 2023 05:43 PM
  • Judge tells Ibrahim Ali jury to disregard testimony of Crown witness who died

The judge in the first-degree murder trial of Ibrahim Ali, who is accused of killing a Burnaby, B.C., teenager six years ago, has told the jury to completely disregard the testimony of a witness who died before the end of her cross-examination.

Dr. Tracy Pickett, a specialist in emergency and clinical forensic medicine who was called as an expert witness by the Crown, had not finished testifying in B.C. Supreme Court when she was found dead on Sept. 28.

She had testified about injuries suffered by the 13-year-old girl Ali is accused of killing.

But during a hearing Tuesday, Justice Lance Bernard instructed the jury to disregard Pickett's testimony and to resist all speculation or research into her death.

Pickett's unexpected death significantly curtailed cross-examination by Ali's defence lawyers and the instructions to the jury recognize the importance of cross-examination as a cornerstone of the adversarial justice system, Bernard said.

He also said Pickett's death and its circumstances are not relevant to the jury's deliberations and the trial will continue as though she had never testified.

"You must completely and absolutely put Dr. Pickett's evidence out of your minds, as if you never heard it," Bernard told the jury.

"Finally, it is essential to the fairness of this trial and to your impartiality as jurors that you not attribute blame in any sense whatsoever to the accused for Dr. Pickett’s death," he said.

Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the teenager, whose name has been protected by a publication ban. 

The girl's body was found in Burnaby's Central Park in July 2017, just hours after her mother reported her missing.

Crown attorney Isobel Keeley told the court during her opening statement in April that evidence would show the teen was walking through the park when she was dragged off a pathway into the forest, then sexually assaulted and strangled.

Keeley said cellphone and bank records prove Ali was in Burnaby that day, while DNA results would prove he sexually assaulted the girl.

Bernard told the jury last month that when Pickett didn't show up to finish her cross-examination, the court wasn't aware that she had died.

The judge read his full instructions twice on Tuesday, and noted that directing a jury to disregard certain evidence is a well-recognized and accepted practice.

The hearing continued with Crown witness Sgt. Michael Lim, an RCMP officer who testified that he was working as a crime scene manager when he went to Central Park on the morning the girl's body was found.

MORE National ARTICLES

Premiers ask federal government for COVID-19 small business loan extension

Premiers ask federal government for COVID-19 small business loan extension
Canada's premiers have sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking the federal government to extend the repayment period for a year for interest-free loans given to small businesses and non-profits during the pandemic. The federal government's Canada Emergency Business Account offered interest-free loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Premiers ask federal government for COVID-19 small business loan extension

Canada 'firm and steadfast' in call for two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians

Canada 'firm and steadfast' in call for two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada remains "firm and steadfast" in its commitment to a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He says the Middle East, and the world, needs both a Palestinian state and Israel to exist alongside each other in peace, safety and prosperity.

Canada 'firm and steadfast' in call for two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians

Trudeau says India's move against Canadian diplomats should concern the world

Trudeau says India's move against Canadian diplomats should concern the world
India's move to reduce the presence of Canadian diplomats in its country are "contrary to international law," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday, and the rest of the world should be concerned about its consequences. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday that Canada had removed most of its diplomatic presence from India after New Delhi threatened to strip diplomatic immunities from them and their families.

Trudeau says India's move against Canadian diplomats should concern the world

Hit and run in North Vancouver

Hit and run in North Vancouver
Mounties in North Vancouver say they are looking for witnesses and footage as they investigate a hit-and-run that left a pedestrian with serious injuries on Wednesday night. North Vancouver R-C-M-P say they were called to the scene after passersby found a North Vancouver man in his late 40s lying injured on the road. 

Hit and run in North Vancouver

High school student arrested, knife found

High school student arrested, knife found
Police in New Westminster say a student at a city high school was arrested Wednesday after being found in possession of a knife. Police say an officer was at New Westminster Secondary on Wednesday morning for an unrelated reason, and told there was a student with a knife who was causing a disturbance. 

High school student arrested, knife found

RCMP tells owners to turn in guns after banned fully automatic model sold in Canada

RCMP tells owners to turn in guns after banned fully automatic model sold in Canada
The RCMP has told owners to turn in what the force is calling fully automatic military surplus firearms after hundreds were misidentified and allowed into Canada for commercial sale. The Mounties say the registrar of firearms immediately froze records relating to the 245 prohibited guns upon discovery of the issue to prevent further sale or transfer of the firearms.  

RCMP tells owners to turn in guns after banned fully automatic model sold in Canada