TORONTO — Defence legal professionals for a teen lady accused of fatally stabbing a homeless man in Toronto two years in the past argue an merchandise seen falling out of her pocket after the incident was not a knife however a marker.
The lady is certainly one of two teenagers on trial within the alleged homicide of Kenneth Lee, who died on Dec. 18, 2022 after he was overwhelmed and stabbed in a downtown Toronto parkette.
Each ladies, who had been 14 and 16 on the time, have pleaded not responsible to second-degree homicide.
Court docket has seen safety video of a gaggle of teenagers, together with the 2 accused, violently swarming Lee till a shelter worker intervenes and breaks up the struggle.
Safety and cellphone movies performed in court docket present the group wandering round Union Station after leaving the parkette, till a teen boy who was with them for a part of the night time is injured with what the Crown alleges is a pointy object.
As safety workers are likely to the boy, an object with a blue finish may be seen falling out of the youthful accused lady’s pocket, and she or he bends down to choose it up.
Prosecutors alleged final week that the merchandise is a knife.
No comparable object was ever recovered as a part of the investigation, nor did officers ever discover a knife, the lead detective within the case has testified.
On Monday, defence counsel for the youthful lady confirmed video of her arrest captured on an officer’s body-worn digital camera. Within the video, the officer removes a number of objects from the lady’s jacket, together with a Sharpie marker. A Sharpie with a blue cap can later be seen in a pile of the lady’s belongings.
Requested whether or not the article seen falling out of the lady’s pocket at Union Station might be a Sharpie, Det. Rodney Benson stated he could not disprove that risk.
“That is actually a proof for it,” the detective stated in cross-examination.
Two small scissors and a pair of tweezers had been additionally discovered on the lady on the time of her arrest, court docket has heard.
An post-mortem discovered that Lee, 59, died as a result of blood loss after he was stabbed within the coronary heart. The forensic psychologist who examined his physique stated the deadly wound was massive and made up of 1 or two cuts.
Dr. Magdaleni Bellis advised the court docket final week it was “not very doubtless” that the scissors discovered on the teenager would have triggered that wound as a result of the blades appeared quick as compared.
The scissors may have triggered a smaller stab wound close to Lee’s armpit that didn’t contribute to his demise, Bellis stated.
Eight ladies had been arrested and charged within the hours after Lee’s demise. Since then, three have pleaded responsible to manslaughter and one to assault with a weapon and assault inflicting bodily hurt.
Two different ladies are set to face a trial by jury in Could, one on a cost of second-degree homicide and the opposite on a cost of manslaughter.
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