Emotions Raw Following Verdict In Sand Trial

Friday, February 26, 2010 at 15:26

 

 

The mother of a man who was gunned down on the Mistawasis First Nation says she feels let down by the justice system.

 

Patricia Daniels is the mother of Greg Whitefish, a 22-year-old man who died from a rifle shot during the early morning hours of September 3rd, 2006.

 

Daniels was one of about 30 people who attended a trial in Prince Albert for the man accused of killing her son and Dwayne Badger.

 

She is upset with how quickly the jurors acquitted Hubert Conrad Sand of both charges.

 

Daniels notes the judge’s instructions to the jury took approximately four hours, but it took the jurors less than two hours to render a verdict.

 

Daniels says she can’t see how they had the time to consider two weeks’ worth of testimony and evidence in that time frame.

 

She also disagrees with the way the judge instructed the jurors who were assembled, particularly in regards to the type of evidence she went over.

 

Daniels wonders if the outcome might have been different had any of the jurors been Aboriginal.

 

The Crown prosecutor overseeing the matter has indicated an appeal is unlikely.

 

Peter Ryhorchuk says one could only be ordered if there were problems with the judge’s instructions to the jury — and he says he didn’t see any.

 

The judge asked the jury if Sand could be found guilty on the lesser charges of manslaughter, but the jury said no.

 

Ryhorchuk says conflicting testimony from witnesses who were intoxicated may have been too much for the jury to get past.

 

One woman in the gallery rushed to the prisoner’s box after Sand was declared innocent, yelling at him to apologize to the family of the two victims.

 

The two were separated, but several people left the court crying.

 

Outside court, Sand’s lawyer was heckled as he spoke with reporters.

 

Sand was taken out of the courthouse through a back door later on in the evening due to safety reasons.