After five days and 16 witnesses, the six-member jury in the coroner’s inquest into the death of Brydon Whitstone has now been sequestered to reach a verdict.
A jury cannot make decisions of criminal or civil guilt in an inquest but it can make non-binding recommendations.
The coroner overseeing the inquest, Robert Kennedy, instructed jurors this morning that the basic questions they have been tasked with answering – such as name of deceased, date and time of death, place and cause of death – will largely be standard procedure.
However, he said the jury will likely take some time pondering the question: by what means did Whitstone die?
Since the RCMP shooting death of the unarmed Whitstone was by no means straight forward, Kennedy said the jury will likely consider the three options of homicide, suicide or undetermined as the means of death.
The white Buick LeSabre Whitstone was driving on Oct. 21, 2017 in North Battleford was misidentified by police as the vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting earlier in th evening.
After a short but intense pursuit which involved speeds of up to 80 kilometres and multiple collisions between Whitstone and more than one police vehicle, the badly damaged Buick LeSabre came to rest at the intersection of 105th Street and 15th Avenue in front of the Academy of Learning College.
Police say that they demanded numerous times for Whitstone and passenger Amanda Wahobin to exit the vehicle and surrender but they refused to comply.
RCMP Constable Jerry Abbott testified at the inquest that when he believed Whitstone was reaching for a gun in his pants, he chose to fire two gunshots into the man’s chest.
Whitstone died from his injuies minutes later.
The inquest, which began on Monday, is taking place at Court of Queen’s Bench in Battleford.
(PHOTO: Brydon Whitstone’s mother Dorothy Laboucane speaks to media on the steps of Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench. Photo by Fraser Needham.)