The second-degree murder trial of a 34-year-old Cote First Nation man concluded at Court of Queen’s Bench in Yorkton last week.
Chester Whitehawk is accused of killing 20-year-old Chad Cote in February 2016 at a home on the Cote reserve just north of Kamsack.
The Crown’s case centred around a videotaped statement to police in which Whitehawk confesses to hitting the victim on the head with a metal rotor then stabbing him multiple (16) times. A forensic pathologist testified that the cause of death was blunt force trauma due to the blow to Whitehawk’s head.
Whitehawk alleges Cote broke into the home of the accused, kissed him and threatened to sexually and physically assault him if he didn’t join a gang.
This series of events constituted provocation according to Legal Aid defence attorney Deanna Harris.
Provocation is a partial defence commonly used to knock down second-degree murder to manslaughter.
During closing arguments Harris submitted that the Court must decide three things: whether Cote had committed an indictable offence (i.e., breaking and entering) which is punishable by five or more years in prison; whether under those circumstances a reasonable person could be provoked to the point of losing control; and whether that was, in fact, what had happened in this case.
She said the Crown had to have disproved all of those things beyond a reasonable doubt for a guilty verdict.
Under the Criminal Code, second-degree murder may be reduced to manslaughter “if the person who committed it did so in the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation.”
Justice M.T. Megaw questioned Harris on the point of what constituted the provocative incident and just how sudden it was. She replied the entire series of events took place over a very short period of time and together made up the provocation.
Following defence submissions, prosecutor Darren Grindle sought leave to make further written submissions.
The judge granted the request cautioning the Crown attorney that the submissions must be restricted to case law and not further argument based on the defence case. He gave Grindle until March 9 to make the submissions and Harris until March 16 to reply.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 21.
