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Jury deliberations begin in P.A. murder trial

Feb 14, 2017 | 4:53 PM

The fate of two Prince Albert men now rests in the hands of 12 strangers.

The jury retired to begin its deliberations late this afternoon in the first-degree murder trial of Jordan Herron, 23, and Orren Johnson, 28. Both were charged for their alleged role in the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Clayton Bear.

In his final instructions to the jury, Judge Jeffrey Kalmakoff gave special instructions regarding the testimony of Miranda Soderberg.

“Her version of events varied considerably,” Kalmakoff said, noting her evidence “must be approached with the greatest care and caution” by the jurors.

Soderberg, who was dating Herron at the time of the shooting, identified Johnson as the shooter and said she saw him running with a gun into the bedroom where Bear was shot. Under cross-examination Soderberg said she changed her story several times, and both defence lawyers noted the significant differences between her statements to police and her testimony at trial.

“In the absence of any supporting or confirming evidence, it is dangerous to rely on her evidence,” Kalmakoff told the jury.

This morning Mary McAuley, representing Herron, applied for a mistrial based on the closing argument made by Johnson’s lawyer Lisa Trach. In her closing statement Trach warned the jury of the dangers of a wrongful conviction, and used the famous example of David Milgaard to drive home the point.

Kalmakoff said the reference was not appropriate but was insufficient to declare a mistrial, and instead firmly instructed jurors to base their verdict only on the evidence heard at trial.

The jury may take some time to reach its verdict. Testimony has been ongoing since late-January, and the jurors were told to prepare for at least one overnight stay. paNOW will bring you the verdict as soon as the jury returns.

 

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

@TMacPhersonNews