Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Did Gerald Stanley’s Tokarev handgun fire accidentally?
That was the focus of cross-examination at Stanley’s second-degree murder trial on Friday, as a firearms expert was questioned by defence lawyer Scott Spencer on the possibility of a malfunction.
Greg Williams, a forensic firearms expert, told court on Thursday the cartridge casing found on the dashboard of the SUV Colten Boushie’s body was found near had an “unusual bulge.”
Williams said he worked through several theories as to why the deformity occurred, including the possibility of a mechanical issue.
However, the expert witness noted the handgun wasn’t prone to misfires despite several “shock tests” performed on the firearm.
The defence focused on the possibility of a hang fire – where the trigger is pulled and there is a delay before the round is released – but Williams said the delay could only theoretically be up to 0.5 seconds long.
The delayed discharge would be caused by “contaminated” gunpowder, Williams noted.
Spencer questioned whether the ammunition fired by the Tokarev — documented as Czechoslovakian military surplus ammo from 1953 — could have been defective enough to cause a hang fire.
Williams said the old ammunition could become rusted, but maintained there was no evidence of a hang fire.
He added he has never experienced a hang fire throughout his career.
The line of questioning came days after Stanley’s son, Sheldon, testified he found his father by the driver’s side of the SUV after the third shot, holding a gun in one hand and a magazine in the other.
Sheldon told court his dad said to him “I just meant to scare them … I bumped (him) and it just went off.”
John Ervin, a firearms expert called by the defence, said he theorized the bulge in the cartridge could’ve been caused either by a hang fire or by something external hitting the firing pin.
He said by his measurements, the gun’s slide must have been out of alignment by about .403 millimetres – a distance at which the trigger wouldn’t have fired the pistol.
However, Ervin said when he brought the slide out of alignment himself and hitting the gun with a hammer, he couldn’t get the gun to discharge.
“Even when you were trying very hard to get that firearm to go off, you couldn’t,” Crown lawyer Chris Browne said.
Ultimately, Ervin said he couldn’t prove whether either of his theories were correct.
“I simply don’t know what caused that firearm to discharge,” he said.
The Crown has concluded their case against Stanley, and the defence is planning to begin their opening arguments when court resumes Monday morning.
Spencer said he planned on calling “several witnesses,” but there’s no word on whether Stanley himself will take the stand.
— With files from 980 CJME Senior Reporter Kevin Martel.
