Angela Amato
Lawyers for two Alberta Mounties charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a man at a rest area told a jury trial Thursday that their clients acted in self-defense, while the Crown argues they used excessive force.
Closing arguments have been made in the case of Const. Jessica Brown, 31, and Cpl. Randy Stenger, 45, charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault in the July 3, 2018 death of Clayton Crawford, 31, near Whitecourt, Alta.
The jury heard that Crawford suffered 10 gunshot wounds after Brown fired his rifle eight times, while Stenger fired his semi-automatic pistol four times.
Whitecourt RCMP have been notified of a sighting of a purple 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup truck at a rest area that was seen fleeing the area of a shooting the day before in Valhalla Centre, a hamlet about 300 kilometers north -west of where Crawford was killed.
Confusion over whether or not the driver of the truck was the shooting suspect or intended target emerged repeatedly during the trial.
Crown attorney Linda Shin told the jury that Brown and Stenger had speculated about information provided to them about Crawford.
“[Brown’s] the guesses or assumptions were neither educated nor reasonable,” Shin said. “She had all the information she needed, twisted to fit the picture she had already painted.”
Earlier in the trial, the court heard Brown received a vague call from Grande Prairie RCMP where he was asked to ‘check out’ a purple van that was spotted by an off-duty officer at a rest area near Whitecourt. The clerk told Brown that the person in the truck may have been involved in a shooting the day before at the center of Valhalla.
The Crown and defense say the Valhalla Center shooting may have been linked to a dispute over a “drug lair”. Crawford was known to be involved in drug trafficking and had previously been arrested for discharging a firearm. None of Crawford’s criminal history was known to either constable at the time.
A toxicology report showed Crawford had methamphetamine in his blood at the time of his death.
Stenger and Brown testified last week that they shot Crawford as he tried to flee the Chickadee Creek rest area after approaching him.
Prosecutors said Brown and his team approached the truck with incomplete information about the driver and the shooting the day before.
The defense said the RCMP had a duty to act.
“She was doing her job,” Brown’s attorney Robb Beeman said. “Should they have just left? Of course not.”
Stenger’s attorney, Mona Duckett, said the Mounties could draw conclusions from the information provided to them.
“It’s not jumping to conclusions,” Duckett told the jury.
Shin said that before Crawford was approached, Brown and Stenger had the opportunity to research more information about the truck driver and the shooting the day before.
“This case is not about what happened,” Shin told the jury. “This is a case of failure in the basics of policing.”
The jury heard that when Brown and Stenger approached the truck, it appeared the man in the driver’s seat was sleeping.
Brown testified that she saw Crawford reach between her legs and thought he was reaching for a weapon. A third officer smashed the driver’s window with a truncheon and there was a fight.
“In a desperate effort to get him out of the car and control his hands, she had to make critical split-second decisions in real time,” Beeman said.
“Mr. Crawford did not resist any lawful arrest,” Shin said. “It was Crawford who was unlawfully assaulted.”
Brown testified that Crawford started the truck and began to back up. She said she believed he was using the truck as a weapon and that she feared for her life and that of her colleagues.
Duckett said his client Stenger relied on the reactions of his colleagues when he fired the first shot at Crawford.
Last week, Stenger testified that Crawford was trying to run them over, and it was an automatic reaction for him to fire his gun.
“He did as he was trained,” Duckett told the jury. “His response was his only option to preserve the lives he believed were in danger.”
Shin argued that Crawford’s only natural reaction was to panic after facing the barrel of a semi-automatic weapon.
Shin reiterated that it was Stenger and Brown who caused the danger at the rest stop because of information they didn’t have, nor were they looking for when they approached the truck, armed and in broad daylight.
“We don’t want the police walking around, half-armed, brandishing assault weapons.” Shin told the jury.
“Clayton Crawford deserved to return home to his loved ones and, tragically, didn’t.”
The jury is expected to deliver its verdict in the coming days.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta-Canadian Press News Fellowship, who is not involved in the editorial process.