Jury selection for Gerald Stanley trial begins in Battleford, Sask.
The trial of a Saskatchewan farmer accused of killing a 22-year-old Indigenous man begins Monday morning in Battleford, Sask., with the selection of the jury.
Gerald Stanley, who is in his mid-50s, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Colten Boushie, a Cree man from the Red Pheasant First Nation reserve. Stanley has pleaded not guilty.
Boushie was shot on Stanley’s farm near Biggar, Sask., in August 2016.
Colten Boushie was shot on Stanley’s farm near Biggar, Sask., just over a half hour’s drive from the reserve where Boushie lived. (CBC)
Crown and defence attorneys will begin the selection of the 12-person jury inside Battleford’s Alex Dillabough Centre starting at around 10 a.m. CST.
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While the rest of the trial will unfold in the Court of Queen’s Bench courthouse, the centre was chosen to host the jury selection because of the larger-than-normal size of the jury roll.
Jury selection is taking place at this community centre. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)
A total of 750 were summoned from the immense Battleford jury boundary.
The boundary that the 750-person jury roll was drawn from is huge, stretching all the way north to the border with the Northwest Territories. (CBC)
How many of those summoned will show up in Battleford is one of the day’s key questions.
‘Peaceful every moment of the way’
Supporters of Boushie’s family are expected to be there Monday.
Last week, RCMP confirmed they will have a security presence in Battleford, intended to ensure public safety.
“There’s been a bail hearing, there’s been a preliminary inquiry, there have been pre-trial motions and Colten’s family and supporters have been absolutely peaceful every moment of the way, ” said Chris Murphy, the Boushie family lawyer.
RCMP officers outside the Court of Queen’s Bench in Battleford, Sask., during a 2016 court appearance by Gerald Stanley. The trial will be held there. (CBC)
Stanley’s attorney, Scott Spencer, has said Stanley will not be giving interviews or statements during the trial, which is expected to last at least two weeks.
Spencer sent out a statement Friday aiming to stub out racial tensions, saying the “trial is not a referendum on racism.”
The case is bound to be pored over by the public, said Brian Pfefferle, a Saskatoon-based defence attorney who, like many of his peers, will be watching the case with intense interest.
“Because of the social media era that we live in, I think that the scrutiny, the microscope is going to be that much bigger on the justice system,” he said.