Court hears from defendants in halal deer poaching case

They started at 7 a.m., drinking while they worked, and then went to a local liquor store at about 1 p.m. to get another 26-ounce bottle of whisky. At that point, Brody, 26, said he stopped drinking, but Wyatt continued throughout the day and after 5 p.m., when Brody drove Wyatt home. Wyatt had already lost his licence for impaired driving.

While still in the truck, Brody said he took six shots of whisky and watched as Wyatt stumbled and almost fell as he got out.

The level of alcohol intoxication, along with their claim that an undercover conservation officer essentially entrapped them into shooting a deer after dark, made up the bulk of the defence.

Wyatt’s testimony did not hold up under cross-examination as he admitted he had not told the truth about some aspects of his statements under oath. Initially, he said he had never poached wildlife, contradicting other testimony heard during the trial. He changed his story after questioning from the Crown prosecutor.

“I did it once or twice, not on a regular basis,” he said, then admitted he had lied minutes earlier.

One of the videos shown in court involved Wyatt shooting a moose while sitting in the driver’s seat of a pickup. It is against the law to shoot from inside a vehicle. It is also illegal to have a loaded weapon inside a vehicle.

Wyatt said he needed the meat from the moose to feed his family, but agreed the reason he was short on money was because he had been drinking too much at the time.

“That was a little bit illegal … but I was providing for my family,” he said.

Brody said the undercover officer who testified for the prosecution had convinced both men to head out in a vehicle in the rural area after dark on Oct. 8.

“All I knew, we were going for a drive,” he said. The officer claimed he was looking for a deer for a Muslim friend and the deer had to be halal, or allowed to be consumed according to the Islamic faith.

That meant a specific prayer over the animal and that its throat had to be slit to allow the blood to drain from the meat. They searched for the correct prayer online before Wyatt shot the deer in a field. Video taken at the scene showed both accused in the field, with Brody standing as Wyatt used his knife on the deer.

According to the website halalcertification.ie, the full process involves the animal being alive at the time of harvest and from a permitted species, the person doing the slaughter being a sane adult Muslim, the name of Allah being invoked at the time of slaughter, and the windpipe, esophagus and both jugular veins must be severed in one stroke.

Brody said he had told both Wyatt and the undercover officer that shooting the deer was a bad idea because there were horses on both sides of the location.

“I said they were f—ing idiots,” he said, adding the officer had urged Wyatt to “shoot, shoot, shoot.”

Once they got the deer back to Wyatt’s farmyard, Brody said he saw the officer give Wyatt something but could not see exactly what it was.

The Crown and defence both rested their cases Wednesday after hearing from the two Sinclairs. Arguments from the lawyers for both accused and the Crown were set for Dec. 11 in Prince Albert Provincial Court.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Court hears from defendants in halal deer poaching case

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