Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
Questions resembling the makings of a self defence argument are being asked at trial for a Muskoday killing.
It’s the third day of the jury trial for Robyn Ermine, in relation to the 2015 death of her then-boyfriend Evan Bear.
Wednesday morning, the only eyewitness, Shelinda Vallier, underwent cross-examination. Vallier is Ermine’s stepsister.
The three had been drinking together at Bear and Ermine’s home on the reserve heading into the early hours of the morning before Bear’s death.
Vallier said the couple had been arguing all night, although she doesn’t know what about. At one point, she said, Ermine asked Bear to go to his mother’s house because of their fighting.
Legal aid lawyer Adam Masiowski had Vallier confirm that when the couple’s fight got physical, Bear was winning. Vallier added this is because Bear was taller and bigger than Ermine.
Vallier confirmed she was scared after Ermine swung at Bear’s neck, although she didn’t have a view of what Ermine was holding after grabbing it off the nearby counter. Vallier said her fear was driven by how much Bear was bleeding and also because he took Ermine to the ground and smashed her head at least four times on the floor.
Masiowski also repeatedly asked about gaps in Vallier’s memory and about how much she’d been drinking that night, as well as whether she had been doing other drugs. Vallier confirmed she’d smoked marijuana.
At one point Masiowski asked “so you were really drunk?”
While Vallier admits to being intoxicated and traumatized, she said “when something like this happens you sober up real quick.”
Vallier said she stayed by Bear’s side holding a cloth to his neck, doing chest compressions and doing CPR until after he stopped breathing.
She said Ermine’s involvement in trying to save Bear’s life was limited to making the initial 911 call.
After Vallier’s testimony, paramedics gave evidence that Bear had no vital signs by the time they arrived and he could not be revived.
Later in the day, court heard from the first officer on the crime scene, Cpl. Stephen Hurst. He described how Ermine came into custody after Leona Bear called and allowed officers into a home on reserve, where Ermine was arrested. The arrest took place less than two hours after Hurst was first called to Muskoday.
Hurst said Ermine sat in the back of the police car and while he read out her rights “she’s yelling, she’s screaming, she’s crying, she’s angry.” He said she was emotionally distraught, alternating between anger – directed at him – and sadness, but regardless of her state she was completely unresponsive to what Hurst was saying to her. This behavior continued once she was put in a secure room at the RCMP detachment.
A number of other police officers are slated to testify, along with a forensic pathologist, before defence starts presenting its case.
The jury trial has been an emotional one for Bear’s family, for Vallier, and for Ermine.