Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 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

Gaza hospital hit, hundreds killed

Gaza hospital hit, hundreds killed
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the bombing of a hospital in Gaza is not legal and is calling the situation "absolutely unacceptable." Trudeau was responding to unfolding reports by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that an Israeli airstrike hit a hospital in Gaza City, killing hundreds of Palestinians, including people using the hospital as shelter. 

Gaza hospital hit, hundreds killed

B.C. premier says spat over Surrey police force 'no longer up for discussion'

B.C. premier says spat over Surrey police force 'no longer up for discussion'
Eby says Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke "fought a good fight" in attempting to move the RCMP back to its police force of jurisdiction, but that the decision to move ahead with a municipal force has been made by his government and is no longer up for discussion.

B.C. premier says spat over Surrey police force 'no longer up for discussion'

Israeli woman with Canadian relatives has died: group

Israeli woman with Canadian relatives has died: group
An Israeli woman with Canadian family has died, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says. The centre says the family of Tiferet Lapidot has asked that the development be shared with the media.   

Israeli woman with Canadian relatives has died: group

Champagne says he wishes grocers were more 'forthcoming' on plans to stabilize prices

Champagne says he wishes grocers were more 'forthcoming' on plans to stabilize prices
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he wishes Canadian grocers would be more forthcoming with the public about their plans to stabilize prices. Earlier this month, Champagne announced that major Canadian grocers — Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco — submitted initial plans to the federal government for how they will stabilize prices in the face of high inflation.

Champagne says he wishes grocers were more 'forthcoming' on plans to stabilize prices

Wind and rainfall warnings for BC

Wind and rainfall warnings for BC
Environment Canada has issued several wind and rainfall warnings as a "potent" fall storm bears down along B-C's coast. The weather office says strong winds with gusts up to 110 kilometres per hour are expected over parts of northern Vancouver Island, the central coast and Haida Gwaii.  

Wind and rainfall warnings for BC

Two B.C. community newspapers publish their last editions this week

Two B.C. community newspapers publish their last editions this week
Two newspapers in British Columbia are publishing their last editions this week, eliminating coverage by community papers for a large swath of the province's northeast. Glacier Media announced it is shutting down both the Dawson Creek Mirror and the Alaska Highway News out of Fort St. John.

Two B.C. community newspapers publish their last editions this week