Friday, December 18th, that's when we'll know if Police Constable Michelle Brown is guilty of the murder of barber Fareed Ahmad. The trial concluded today, and Justice Colin Williams intends to deliver his verdict next week Friday.
For almost 2 hours, the judge listened to submissions made by Crown Counsel Shanice Lovell and Brown's defense attorney Anthony Sylvestre.
Crown Counsel Lovell freely acknowledged to the judge that the prosecution's case is based on circumstantial evidence. But, she asserted that the sum-total of all the details add up to the 1 conclusion that Michelle Brown was Ahmad's killer.
Summarizing the key pieces of evidence, Crown Counsel Lovell reminded the court of witness testimony that on December 27th, 2017, Brown appeared to be in some sort of emotional distress for the entire workday. That was also the first time in her career that she failed to hand in her police-issued firearm and the 15 live rounds of ammunition that came with it. She also refused her usual ride home from her police colleagues.
One prosecution witness told the court that shortly before the crash, he was at the Hattieville bus stop, and saw a BMW pull over and park on the side of the road. This witness said that he saw a driver and a passenger - presumed to be Ahmad and Brown - pointing at each other as if they were in a heated argument.
You'll remember that Brown gave sworn testimony in her defense that when Ahmad Parked the vehicle in Hattieville, another cop somehow got into the vehicle. She went on to claim that after Ahmad drove off, this officer allegedly pointed a gun to the back of Ahmad's head and shot him. Brown also alleged that this cop somehow managed to jump out of the moving vehicle after pulling the trigger.
Well, Crown Counsel Lovell focused on the evidence from the witness who said that he saw two people arguing. She reminded the court that this witness said that he didn't see any of the doors open, and when the vehicle drove off, only 2 people were inside.
While Brown was being rescued from the vehicle, she was allegedly heard in a panicked voice saying that she didn't want to die and leave her children behind. In that same context, she was also heard saying quote, "We started to fight, and he tried to take my gun." End quote.
Crown Counsel Lovell reasoned that from the moment the vehicle crashed, Brown was already concocting an alibi of self-defense to protect herself from prosecution.
The prosecutor also reasons that Brown's self-defense claim eventually morphed into her sworn testimony that one of her police colleagues executed Ahmad.
The Prosecutor was also skeptical that a third person could have shoved a gun between Ahmad and Brown, and that Brown, a trained officer of the Special Assignment Team, froze in fear, and did nothing to stop this supposed killer cop from shooting Ahmad, while he's operating a moving vehicle.
The prosecutor also reminded the court that Brown's service weapon, which she failed to return to the police department, was found in the wreckage of the vehicle, along with 13 bullets, and 2 expended shells.
In Brown's Defense, Anthony Sylvestre invited the judge to consider the view that there is enough doubt to warrant an acquittal. He asked the court to consider that Brown's own self-preservation would have caused her to think twice about shooting Ahmad because if he lost control of the vehicle, her life would also be put in danger.
Sylvestre also submitted that some of the witnesses could have exaggerated when they testified to the court.
He also pointed out that there was no documentary evidence that she received a service-issued firearm in the first place. He added that there is no certainty that the firearm wasn't simply planted in the wreckage of Ahmad's vehicle.
He also pointed out that Brown is right-handed, which means that she would have had to turn her body completely to point the murder weapon to Ahmad's jaw to pull the trigger. Sylvestre reasons that this would have altered the angle of the entry wounds. He invited the court to consider that the angle of the entry wounds supports the possibility that a third person fired the weapon from the backseat. Sylvestre also asserted that Brown's sworn testimony remains "unimpeached", and that she is to benefit from being a person of good character.
We'll see what Justice Williams decides a week from today.
