Pickton Trial: Defence Witness Fumbles

Defence opened its case this week, suggesting it will take three weeks to wrap up.

When asked whether she found this blood to be out-of-the-ordinary, she conceded that it was, but Defence had told her this detail was not expected to come out under cross-examination.

By Citizen Correspondent Trisha Baptie

Date Posted: 09/05/07

Reader Rating:

As of August 4, it was official: the Defence in the Pickton case is moving forward. Since returning from summer break there has been a lot going on in the court between the lawyers, but nothing reportable because of the publication ban. Defence lawyers made an opening statement on September 4, and have stated that their part of the trial should take roughly three weeks - much less than the seven months Crown took to present its case. Defence is already off to a rocky start, as one of its first witnesses fumbles on cross-examination...

The three things Defence seems to be focusing on are Pickton's supposed mental deficiencies, the credibility of Crown witnesses and the fact that others could be involved in the killings. Whether or not Pickton himself could take the stand is still uncertain.

Defence opened its case with lawyer Adrian Brooks saying, "Any conclusions you may be coming to at this stage about the guilt or innocence of Mr. Pickton are, at this stage, premature." He compared this case to a painting, where you do not know the whole picture until the last brush stroke is applied. "There are many brush strokes yet to be applied to this canvas before you have everything before you," he stated.

He continued his opening statement by saying we will hear from a psychologist who performed an IQ test on Pickton and from another psychologist who assessed his aptitude tests from his school records.

In the opening statements, we also heard about the will Pickton's mother left, in which Pickton and his siblings were not all treated fairly. Pickton would, in fact, not come into his inheritance until he was 40 years old.

Defence also plans to bring into question the significance of the blood found on a mattress in the trailer that Pickton resided in. They will also bring into question the human DNA found on a band saw, which belonged to Pat Casanova - a man who ran a pig slaughter and butchery on the 953 Dominion property.

Defence has already begun to call witnesses, starting with the ambulance workers who tended to Lynn Ellingsen. Ellignsen was the witness whose testimony took five days and who was plagued by bad memory due to drug addictions.