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UPDATE: Jury inquest makes decision

Dec 7, 2018 | 3:14 PM

UPDATE: A jury at a coroner’s inquest in Battleford has been unable to determine the manner of a man’s death last October.

Brydon Whitstone was fatally shot in an altercation with the RCMP, after crashing through two police cars. RCMP had said he made a move towards his waist area, but a gun was not found.

The presiding coroner had asked the jury to detemine if the manner of Whitstone’s death was homicide, suicide or undetermined.

The Whitstone family was thanked for their patience.

Whitstone had both meth and alcohol in his body at the time of his death — and had told his passenger he wanted to die.

After the jury’s finding they made one recommendation that the RCMP use a taser gun or other intervention to immobilize or stun the suspect, prior to the use of a gun, to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.

The mother of Whitstone – Dorothy Laboucane – was visibly upset as she left the courtroom. She wanted to see more justice done. She said the outcome won’t bring back her son. 

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The jury is now sequestered at Queen’s Bench court in Battleford, where the coroner’s inquest into the death of Brydon Whitstone has been taking place all week. 

Whitstone was fatally shot in an altercation with the RCMP in North Battleford on Oct. 21, 2017. Witnesses in the inquiry, which started Monday, wrapped up their testimony Thursday. 

On Friday morning, jury members watched a video of the police pursuit from the night of the incident and received a timeline with details of the event, starting from the time the RCMP pursuit of Whitstone’s vehicle was authorized. 

The jury was then given instructions from presiding Coroner Robert Kennedy. Jury members will need to answer a number of questions as part of the deliberations, including when and how Whitstone died. 

Kennedy said his role is to guide the jury but the jury will its own decisions. The jury can also make recommendations to the court. Kennedy said they may or may not be implemented, but will be published.

Kennedy said the jury will need to factor in all the evidence from the witnesses’ testimony and supporting documentation making up the evidence. In determining the manner of death in this case, the jury will need to decide whether Whitstone died by homicide or suicide, or whether the cause is undetermined. 

In providing instructions to the jury, Kennedy said homicide is a neutral term, and does not mean there is any culpability. It strictly indicates that the individual died from the actions of another. On the issue of suicide, Kennedy said the understanding, in this case, would be that an individual knew their actions would result in certain actions from another that could cause their death. For instance, did Whitstone intentionally do something knowing the police would react in a certain way?

Kennedy said suicide doesn’t have to be self-inflicted to be considered as such, in legal terms.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

@ocoureurdesbois