Latest news with #PatStay
CBC
31 minutes ago
- CBC
Prosecution closes case at trial of man accused of murdering Pat Stay
The prosecution has closed its case in the second-degree murder trial of the 34-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing battle rapper Pat Stay at a downtown Halifax night club nearly three years ago. A Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury is expected to hear closing arguments beginning Thursday afternoon in the trial of Adam Drake, after defence lawyer Michael Lacy told the court Tuesday that he would not be calling any evidence. Crown attorney Tanya Carter said Tuesday the prosecution had finished calling evidence in the trial, which began in mid-May and has heard testimony from witnesses over multiple days. Stay was 36 years old when he was stabbed inside the Yacht Club Social on Sept. 4, 2022. Video surveillance footage played for the jury last month shows Stay being stabbed, stumbling to the floor and then making his way out of the club before collapsing. Drake has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Once prosecutors make the final arguments, the defence will do the same on Friday. Justice Scott Norton is expected to give the jury instructions on Monday before they begin deliberating a verdict.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Crown closes case in murder trial for man accused of killing rapper Pat Stay
The Crown has closed its case in Adam Drake's second-degree murder trial. Drake has been charged in connection with the stabbing death of battle rapper Pat Stay at a Halifax nightclub on Sept. 4, 2022. After officially tendering a couple more exhibits, including an additional agreed statement of facts, the Crown closed its case Tuesday morning. The defence said it will not be calling evidence at the trial. The jury was dismissed and told to come back Thursday afternoon for closing arguments from Crown prosecutors Carla Ball and Tanya Carter. Defence lawyers Michael Lacy and Jennifer MacDonald will present their closing arguments on Friday morning. Justice Scott Norton says he will give his charge to the jury on Monday, at which point he recommended jurors should bring an overnight bag 'just in case.' Stay was fatally stabbed at the Yacht Club Social in downtown Halifax before stumbling outside and collapsing on the sidewalk. Const. Brad Benjamin, a Halifax police officer in plain clothes who approached Stay, flashed his badge and told Stay paramedics were on their way. According to an agreed statement of facts read at the trial, Benjamin tried to keep Stay alert and asked him what happened. He then rolled Stay over onto his back, where he found a wound, after seeing blood pool beneath him. Benjamin held Stay's head to try to help him breathe as he was gasping for air. Stay was pronounced dead as the result of a knife wound at the QEII Health Sciences Centre at 1:23 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022. The Crown alleges Drake stabbed Stay. Drake has pleaded not guilty to the charge. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
Jury hears Pat Stay's blood was found on Adam Drake's shoe
The jury in a murder trial learned Pat Stay's blood was found on Adam Drake's shoe. Forensic and DNA evidence took centre stage at a high-profile murder trial in Dartmouth, N.S., on Wednesday, where the jury was told Pat Stay's blood was found on Adam Drake's shoe. Drake is on trial for second-degree murder in Stay's death on Sept. 4, 2022. That witness was Walid Dabbour, a forensic DNA analyst who began virtual testimony on Tuesday. He told the jury the odds of the blood found on the bottom of Drake's shoe being someone other than Stay's are one-in-2.5-sextillion. Blood found on the outside toe area of the shoe belonged to two people, one of whom also had a very high probability of belonging to Stay, he said. It's not clear who the other person was. Det. Illya Nielsen, of the Halifax Regional Police, also took the stand Wednesday, telling the jury he did 50 footwear impressions in the Yacht Club Social, including 39 that were in blood or red staining. He said patterns were observed from the VIP area, where Drake was, to the front door and that others went through to a back hallway and exit. But the defence confirmed no footprints heading out back were from Drake, although a previous witness who was with him that night testified their group of four left the club through that back door. After questioning from Drake's lawyer Michael Lacy, Nielsen also confirmed he was not tasked with examining shoes that belonged to another person who was arrested after Stay was stabbed. The third Crown witness of the day testified Drake removed two photos of himself off Instagram soon after the attack. Jodie Burns is a relative of Stay's partner and met Drake through a dating app 10 years earlier. She sent in screenshots of his Instagram profile -- and of a Facebook comment -- to police. She testified that Drake commented, 'Can't wait to give u a big hug,' on a music video of Stay's about 18 weeks earlier, but no further context was provided to the jury. Court broke early for the day and jurors were told they would only be required to return on Monday, meaning there will be no testimony until then. Lawyers Adam Drake's defence lawyers Jennifer MacDonald and Michael Lacy are shown at the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. (Source: Callum Smith/CTV News Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
02-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Pat Stay stabbed after verbal altercation and a shove, witness tells murder trial
A woman who stood next to Pat Stay moments before he was fatally stabbed at a Halifax nightclub has testified that the battle rapper and another man had a verbal confrontation that turned physical. The second-degree murder trial of Adam Drake heard Monday from Brinn McKenzie, who was working as a server at the Yacht Social Club when the attack occurred early on the morning of Sept. 4, 2022. McKenzie, 25, said she was providing bottle service to patrons seated in the VIP section of the bar on Lower Water Street. She told the Nova Scotia Supreme Court she didn't recognize anyone in that section that night and only learned Stay's name later. She described one of the people seated in the VIP section as a white man in a white shirt. Other witnesses have identified that man as Drake. McKenzie said when Stay arrived, the Dartmouth man greeted almost everyone at the table with handshakes, hugs or fist bumps. She said the one exception was the man in the white shirt. She testified the two men exchanged words and Stay shoved the other man. McKenzie did not see a weapon and said she did not witness the stabbing. McKenzie said she only became aware of what had happened when Stay turned and she saw blood. Stay slipped in the blood as he ran out of the bar, she told the jury trial. Witness unable to identify people in grainy video The Crown had a video expert enhance the security video from the bar that the jury has already seen. The enhancement zooms in on Stay, but the image is so grainy, it's difficult to make anything out. McKenzie was able to recognize herself in the enhanced video but she said she couldn't be certain of any other identities. Stay, 36, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the stabbing. Drake, now 34, was arrested a few days later. His trial is expected to run until mid-June.
CTV News
02-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Server at nightclub says Pat Stay was in ‘verbal altercation' before stabbing
Brinn McKenzie, a server at the Yacht Club Social in September 2022, testified at Adam Drake's second-degree murder trial on June 2, 2025. (CTV Atlantic / Callum Smith) Brinn McKenzie, a server at the Yacht Club Social in September 2022, testified on Monday at Adam Drake's second-degree murder trial. In charge of the VIP area, McKenzie was working the night of Pat Stay's death and heard a verbal altercation between Stay and a man in a white shirt at about 12:35 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022. She says she did not see any weapons or what caused the blood she saw after Stay turned from a group of people he was interacting with at the nightclub. She testified she didn't know Drake or Stay in Sept. 2022, but later learned who Stay was. She never identified Drake in her testimony or while watching any video in court, but continued describing a man in a white shirt. Nicole Zakhour, a previous Crown witness, has testified Drake was wearing a white shirt when they were out that night. Greetings, verbal altercation McKenzie testified that after Stay walked into the club, he 'was standing right next to me, within an arm's length' while greeting a group of people with handshakes and fist bumps. She told the jury Stay did not greet the man in the white shirt, and she witnessed a 'verbal altercation' between Stay and him. Stay had pushed the man in the white shirt, she testified. 'I did not hear what was said because it was loud in there,' McKenzie told the jury. Another man in an orange hoodie pushed Stay, she said, before Stay left the table. She said after the altercation with the man in the white shirt, 'Pat turned and ran out of the bar and then slipped in his own blood and got up and continued to run out of the bar.' When asked by the Crown, McKenzie said she did not see any weapons or what caused the blood. During the verbal altercation, she said others made comments appearing to come 'from a place of concern about what was going on.' Cross-examination During cross-examination by Drake's defence lawyer Michael Lacy, McKenzie agreed that she never saw the man in the white shirt initiate any physical altercation with Stay. He asked McKenzie if there were more people in the area where the stabbing happened than the four people she was serving that evening. She agreed. She also said it was tough to identify people through the video footage, which was black-and-white surveillance footage from the club. Drake has pleaded not guilty to the charge. Monday marked day 12 of the 24 days set aside for the trial. Testimony continues Tuesday. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
