There was a major last-minute development in a joint Sarnia homicide trial Friday as the jury was asked by both the Crown and a defense lawyer to find one of the accused guilty of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder.
There was a major last-minute development in a joint Sarnia homicide trial Friday as the jury was asked by both the Crown and a defense lawyer to find one of the accused guilty of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder.
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Joshua Tomlinson, 38, and Noah Brown, 31, both pleaded not guilty more than a month ago to second-degree murder and breaking and entering the death of Allen Schairer, a 62-year-old retiree and photographer who lived alone on Devine Street near Tecumseh Park. He was discovered in his bathtub stabbed to death on Jan. 26, 2021, after police found his car abandoned on city outskirts, the trial has heard.
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Following six weeks of evidence from 15 witnesses, the jury thought they would be hearing closing arguments Thursday from both defense lawyers and the Crown. They were later pushed to Friday.
Following a lengthy delay Friday, the 14-person panel was finally brought into the second-floor Sarnia courtroom, where Superior Court Justice Michael McArthur told them there’s been a development that will have an effect on the decisions they have to make in the case.
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He called on prosecutor David Rows, who told the jury the Crown was conceding the evidence heard at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt Brown was guilty of second-degree murder.
“The Crown will be moving forward as it relates to Mr. Brown on the lesser included offense of manslaughter,” Rows said.
Both Rows and Brown’s lawyer, Michael Moon, jointly asked the jury to return verdicts of guilty to both manslaughter and breaking and entering with intent against Brown only. McArthur told the jurors it essentially means the focus of their deliberations will be on the two charges Tomlinson is facing.
Despite the lawyers’ request, the convictions against Brown won’t be made official until after the jury reaches a verdict on Tomlinson’s charges, which likely won’t be until next week. Tomlinson has maintained his innocence, testing he walked from his Kathleen Avenue home to Exmouth Street the night Schairer died looking for businesses to break into for drug money. He was never in Schairer’s home and knew nothing of a break and entering or a stabbing, he told the jury.
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Due to the late-breaking development, the judge sent the jury home until Monday morning to give the lawyers time to modify their closing arguments. Moon is still expected to address the jury briefly, but the majority of their focus will be on Tomlinson’s lawyer, Terry Brandon, and Rows, before McArthur gives them legal instructions.
Moon explained Friday to The Observer what led to the last-minute change for his client, but a publication ban is in effect on anything the jury doesn’t hear during the trial until they start deliberating.
It’s unclear when Brown may be sentenced or what his penalty will be.
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