Defence counsel for a Sudbury man accused of first degree murder and arson causing bodily harm rested their case April 24, without calling a single piece of evidence.
Counsel for Liam Stinson, Joseph Wilkinson and Liam Thompson, had their opportunity to call witnesses and introduce evidence at trial in Sudbury Superior Court, but Wilkinson simply said: “your honour, we have no evidence to call.”
Crown counsel Kaely Whillans and Alayna Jay rested their case on April 18.
Since then, the majority of court time has been devoted to legal wranglings, which can’t yet be reported as they were not done in the presence of the jury and therefore covered by what’s called a voir-dire publication ban.
Stinson is on trial for his alleged role in an April 11, 2021, fatal fire that took the lives of three people and severely injured another. Stinson is charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Guy “Popcorn” Henri, Jasmine Somers and Stinson’s estranged partner, Jamie-Lynn Rose. He is also charged with arson causing bodily harm for his alleged role in the fire and for the severe injuries sustained by David Cheff, whose townhouse was set on fire with gasoline bottles filled with gasoline and thrown as Molotov cocktails.
The Crown alleges that Stinson directed two people, known in Sudbury.com’s coverage as Witness 1 and Witness 2, (as their names are covered by a publication ban) to start the fire, thereby killing the three people and causing injury to Cheff as he was forced to jump from a second-story window to escape. He was the only person who survived the fire.
Members of the jury, in court for the first time since April 18, were almost immediately adjourned for the day, and will be out of court for an as-yet-undetermined time, said Justice R. Dan Cornell, meaning that there is more legal work to do before the jury will hear the closing submissions from the Crown, and then the defence. After submissions, the jury will hear what’s known as the judges’ final instructions or “final charge” ahead of their deliberations.
That final charge will consist of an explanation of the legal principles that apply in this case, said Cornell.
“As I have said many times, you are the judges of the facts, and you will now consider all of the evidence that has been put forward,” said Cornell. “And with each witness you are able to believe some, none or all of what any witness told you. It's not a black and white approach.”
There are still 14 members of the jury, as two alternates joined the 12 jurors throughout the trial in case two were unable to proceed, and those alternates will be dismissed ahead of jury deliberations, which may begin late next week.
The jury will be sequestered for the duration of deliberations, said Cornell, and advised the jury members “when you come back, bring a toothbrush.”
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com
