Lawyers for alleged serial killer to argue he is not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers told court they will argue alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women by way of a mental disorder.
Skibicki has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified woman who Indigenous leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.
He has pleaded not guilty, and on Wednesday Alyssa Munce, one of his attorneys, told the court they would be seeking a finding during the trial that he is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
“This isn’t a case where we are looking at the evidence to determine whether or not Mr. Skibicki committed those offences,” she told the court Wednesday. “This is a situation where we are proffering a defence of NCR (Not Criminally Responsible).”
The move comes as they continue their bid to toss the jury arguing ‘pervasive’ media coverage may have caused an unconscious bias among the selected jurors. They are pushing to have the trial heard by a judge alone instead of a jury, arguing his rights are being violated.
“As soon as you have a partial jury, you are not having an impartial trial – and that’s the right of the accused,” Munce argued, “There is a reasonable probability that the potential jury pool was prejudiced, and that the jurors that we actually selected… are prejudiced.”
Munce pointed to a poll, commissioned by the defence, showing a strong negative opinion of Skibicki in the community, with 81 per cent believing he is guilty, and 66 per cent saying they would find it unacceptable if he were to be found not criminally responsible by way of a mental disorder.
READ MORE: Lawyers for alleged Winnipeg serial killer point to opinion poll in bid to get jury tossed
The defence had called U.S.-based cognitive psychologist Dr. Christine Ruva as an expert witness earlier this week, due to her research on the influence of pre-trial publicity can have on jury decision-making.
She testified the more pre-trial publicity there is, the more bias there will be on a jury. Once an opinion of guilt has been formed through pre-trial publicity, she said it is unlikely that will change during the trial.
She said the safest way to avoid unconscious jury bias is to only allow people to serve on a jury if they haven’t heard of the case before.
The court heard today of the 12 jurors and two alternates selected, seven had indicated they had not heard of the case before.
Crown Prosecutor Charles Murray told the court Ruva’s testimony is based on mock jury trials, and the volunteers participating in her studies did not have a real person’s liberty in their hands.
“This is a dangerous use of social science,” he said. “We take one social science expert who says they are cemented to a particular view based on those experiments, and on that basis we are asked to just dispose of our jury system in Canada?”
He argued further Ruva’s expertise is based on the U.S. legal system and not Canada’s where there is a presumption of impartiality when selecting jurors.
“The reality is if we accept her opinion, we can’t have jury trials in high-profile cases.”
Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, who is presiding over the case, said this is a complicated issue. He will be giving a decision in the matter on Friday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What weather experts say to expect this summer in Canada
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Israel sends tanks into Rafah on raids amid Gaza-wide offensive
Israeli tanks mounted raids across Rafah in defiance of the World Court for a second day on Wednesday, after Washington said the assault did not amount to a major ground operation in the southern Gazan city that U.S. officials have warned Israel to avoid.
Five more Ontario school boards join lawsuit against social media platforms
Five additional Ontario school boards and two independent private schools have joined a lawsuit against the owners of multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
In bizarre provocation, North Korea flies trash, manure balloons over the South
North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilize chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.