Suspect in Lapu-Lapu Day attack appears in court
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, the suspect in the Lapu-Lapu Day festival attack that killed 11 people and injured dozens more, has been set a hearing to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial.
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CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Moncton jury begins deliberations in casino manslaughter trial
A Moncton jury has begun deliberating in Michael Glaspy's manslaughter trial in connection with the 2023 death of a casino manager. The 12-member jury received final instructions Tuesday afternoon from Justice Christa Bourque, including how to apply the law in the case and which charges can be considered. After three weeks of testimony related to the death of Rodney Frenette, Bourque said the jury could return with a verdict of manslaughter, but that aggravated assault is also on the table. "Your only responsibility is to determine whether the Crown has proven Michael Glaspy guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Bourque told the jury. Extensive video surveillance footage and testimony from 19 witnesses detailed an altercation between Glaspy, 53, and Frenette, 56, that took place at Casino New Brunswick on March 4, 2023. It's alleged Glaspy assaulted Frenette, who was food and beverage manager at the casino. Video footage showed the interaction between the two ended with Frenette hitting his head on the floor of the Hub City Pub. He died 24 days later in hospital. Glaspy was charged with manslaughter, a homicide that's committed without intent to kill a person, in April of 2023. To return a guilty verdict of manslaughter, the jury must consider whether the Crown has proven that Glaspy's actions "contributed significantly to Mr. Frenette's death," Bourque said. The jury should only find Glaspy guilty if they can be sure that he intentionally applied force to Frenette without his consent, Bourque explained. She also said the jury should consider whether anything that happened after Glaspy's actions on March 4 contributed to Frenette's death, and if it renders Glaspy's actions insignificant in his death. "Then, according to our laws, Michael Glaspy did not cause Mr. Frenette's death," she said. In Canada, manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. A minimum sentence can vary based on the circumstances of the crime. Aggravated assault also on the table, justice says In court Tuesday, Bourque told jurors they should also consider aggravated assault as a lesser offence if they do not believe the Crown has successfully proven manslaughter. Aggravated assault is more serious than assault, and constitutes actions that cause severe bodily harm or endanger a person's life. For the jury to return with an aggravated assault verdict, they must consider whether the Crown has proven that Glaspy "contributed significantly to the wounding or to the endangering of Rodney Frenette's life," as well as all the other elements of assault. Bourque told the jury that Glaspy's intoxication on the day of the altercation is not a suitable defence in his case. Jury reminded of Frenette's fall in hospital Bourque's instructions, which spanned several hours Tuesday afternoon, also included a summary of some of the evidence the jury heard during the trial. Bourque reminded the jury about the testimony of both the neurosurgeon who treated Frenette in a Moncton hospital and the pathologist who performed Frenette's autopsy. She said their testimony revealed they both knew about a fall Frenette took on March 16, 2023, during his recovery in the hospital, which they read about in nurses' notes from the hospital. Bourque told the jury the notes were not admitted as exhibits in the Crown's case, which means they are not considered evidence. She reminded the jury to question the testimony of each witness they heard, to ask themselves whether they are reliable and to consider how much time has passed between the altercation and witness testimony. When it comes to the video surveillance detailing how the initial altercation unfolded and what took place afterward, Bourque told the jury to re-watch the footage as many times as it takes. "It is your interpretation of these videos that counts," she said, adding that they should rely on what they think they see on the video and not what witnesses have recalled about details like whether Glaspy landed a punch to Frenette and who started it.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Suspect arrested, charged 7 years after Vancouver nightclub homicide
From 2019: The death of Kris Thind remains unsolved a year later. His loved ones are calling for justice, and for dozens of witnesses to come forward.
CBC
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- CBC
Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes retrial is coming to a close. Here's what you need to know
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. Jurors will soon weigh the case against former movie studio boss Harvey Weinstein, who is standing trial for a second time in New York on sexual assault charges. The trial, which began in a Manhattan criminal court on April 23, moved on to closing arguments Tuesday without testimony from Weinstein. Deliberations by the jury — made up of seven women and five men, with five people serving as alternates — could begin Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. Weinstein, 73, is accused of raping an actress and assaulting two women in what prosecutors have called a pattern in which the disgraced movie producer used his power and influence to lure in victims and then keep them silent. The Miramax studio co-founder has pleaded not guilty and has denied ever having non-consensual sex with anyone. Weinstein, suffering from a litany of health problems, was present throughout the trial in a wheelchair. Weinstein returned to court five years after he was convicted of rape and sexual assault by a New York jury, for a new trial covering many of the very same allegations — plus one that hasn't been tried before. That trial and a whirlwind of other allegations against Weinstein from women in the film and television industry, including some prominent movie stars, propelled the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. The retrial is happening because New York's top court last year threw out Weinstein's 2020 conviction. The high court found that the previous trial judge allowed prejudicial testimony about allegations separate from the charges. Here's what you need to know about Weinstein's retrial as the case nears a close. WATCH | How the prosecution took a gamble in 2020 Weinstein trial and what went wrong: Why Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was overturned | About That 1 year ago Duration 8:49 Weinstein not testifying Weinstein opted not to testify at his New York retrial, his lawyer Arthur Aidala said Sunday night. It was a fraught decision for the 73-year-old, who didn't testify at previous trials in New York and California and was convicted in both. He denies the allegations, and Aidala has said that Weinstein was carefully weighing whether to take the stand this time. Speaking outside court on Thursday, Aidala said that Weinstein thought a lot of holes had been poked in the accusers' accounts, but that he also was pondering whether jurors would feel they needed to hear from him. In the U.S., defendants in criminal cases aren't obligated to testify, and many decide not to, for various reasons. Among them: the prospect of being questioned by prosecutors. Who are the accusers? He's charged in New York with raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley and Kaja Sokola, separately, in 2006. Mann was an actor and hairstylist, Haley a production assistant and producer, and Sokola a model who aspired to an acting career. It was the first time prosecutors publicly identified Sokola and detailed her account of what unfolded between her and the Oscar-winning movie producer in the early 2000s. She has also accused him in a civil lawsuit of groping her against her will four years earlier, when she was 16. Like the two other accusers in the case, Sokola alleges a complex series of encounters and reactions — being sexually assaulted, yet staying in touch; wary of Weinstein but wanting to remain on good terms with a Hollywood power broker who dangled the possibility of an acting career. The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley, Mann and Sokola have done. What are the accusations? All three women testified for days at the retrial, giving emotional and graphic accounts of what they say they endured. They said Weinstein suggested he'd help them achieve their show-business dreams, but then manoeuvred them into private settings and preyed on them. Haley, a former TV production assistant, was the first to testify and recalled the alleged events of July 2006. She said she accepted an invitation to visit Weinstein's Manhattan apartment one early evening because she felt it would have been odd to decline; she was due to fly on his company's dime to Los Angeles the next day to see a premiere of the film Clerks II, which Weinstein's company co-produced. After she and Weinstein briefly chatted on his living room sofa, he lunged to kiss her, she testified. She said she leapt up and rejected him, but he grabbed her and forcibly backed her into a bedroom. Then, Haley said, he pinned her down on a bed and performed oral sex on her, ignoring her pleas that she didn't want it. Sokola, an aspiring actor at the time, told jurors Weinstein put his hand inside her underwear and made her touch his genitals at a Manhattan apartment in 2002. Mann, a 39-year-old cosmetologist and hairstylist, was the last of three accusers to testify in the case and the one with arguably the most complicated history with Weinstein. She said she met Weinstein at a party in late 2012 or early 2013, when she was 27 and had recently moved to Los Angeles to try to launch an acting career. She said he took an interest in her ambitions, and they had a few followup meetings that alternated between professional talk and boundary-pushing. In March 2013, she said she travelled to New York with a friend. After the pals made plans for breakfast with Weinstein, he showed up early and got a room at Mann's hotel, over her protests, she said. Weeping and wiping her eyes on the witness stand, she said she went upstairs with Weinstein to try to avoid a public argument and told him, "I don't want to do this," but he shoved the door shut as she tried to leave. After Weinstein demanded she undress and grabbed her arms, she said she "just gave up." Mann said he then had sex with her — after, she believes, injecting himself with an erection-promoting drug that she later found in the bathroom trash. Mann told no one about the alleged rape. She said that she doubted she'd be believed and feared reprisals from the well-connected Weinstein. Weinstein's lawyers have argued that anything that happened between him and his accusers was consensual. Will Weinstein go free if he's acquitted at this trial? Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, N.Y., when his first conviction was overturned. But even if he's acquitted in this trial, he's not a free man. Last year, he rejected an extradition request from California, where he was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving a woman known as Jane Doe 1, after a two-month trial held in Los Angeles in late 2022. He was sentenced early the following year to 16 years in prison, which was to begin after the New York sentence was served. Weinstein's conviction in California is subject to review, but in the wake of the overturning of the New York verdict, legal experts said that the two states had rules that differed regarding testimony about prior acts and behaviour. WATCH | Weinstein sentenced for rape, sexual assault of accuser known as 'Jane Doe 1': Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 years for rape and sexual assault 2 years ago Duration 3:04 An L.A. judge has sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 16 years in prison following his conviction for the rape and sexual assault of the accuser known as 'Jane Doe 1.' The former movie producer will serve the sentence after his current 23-year sentence in New York.
