The legal fate of two men charged with manslaughter in the death of Jeanenne Fontaine now rests with a jury.
Christopher Brass and Jason Meilleur have pleaded not guilty to the charge.
On Mar. 14, 2017, Fontaine, the cousin of Tina Fontaine, was shot in the back of the head and left in her Aberdeen Avenue home, which was set on fire.
The trial heard a third man, Malcolm Mitchell, was the shooter. Mitchell is not part of this trial.
On Friday Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Gerald Chartier gave instructions to jurors before they started deliberating.
“You will soon leave this courtroom to start discussing this case in the jury room,” Chartier told jurors. “To decide this case you rely on what you remember the evidence was.”
“You are the judges of the facts.”
Chartier explained to jurors Brass and Meilleur are presumed innocent unless or until the Crown proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Chartier told the jury it is perfectly proper to try two people of the same co-offence and try them together, but he told jurors, “You must give a separate verdict for each person charged.”
The Crown alleges manslaughter was committed by Brass and Meilleur when Fontaine was killed because of an unlawful robbery or attempted robbery over a methamphetamine debt.
The Crown has argued three men showed up at Fontaine’s home in order to collect the drug debt from Fontaine’s boyfriend, and it turned into a robbery of Fontaine when they realized the boyfriend wasn’t home.
“The Crown says for both men in taking part in a robbery with weapons it was entirely foreseeable someone would be hurt,” Chartier explained to jurors.
Defence lawyers for the two men argued for acquittals.
Meilleur’s lawyers have argued Fontaine was killed because of a spontaneous decision made by Mitchell to shoot her in the back of the head.
Chartier explained to jurors the position of Meilleur’s lawyers is that there’s no evidence Meilleur knew there was a weapon brought to the residence and no evidence of a robbery.
Brass’s lawyers argued a robbery did not occur and was not intended to occur and told jurors the Crown has failed to prove essential elements of Brass’s identification as being at the home when Fontaine was killed.
Chartier told jurors in order to come back with a verdict of guilty they must find that Brass or Meilleur caused Fontaine’s death and that Brass or Meilleur caused Fontaine’s death unlawfully.
“It is an agreed fact Mr. Mitchell was the shooter,” Chartier told jurors. “The question is whether that shooting occurred during the course of a robbery where Mr. Meilleur and Mr. Mitchell participated.”
