Defence raises possibility of manslaughter in closing moments of Craig Pope murder retrial
Craig Pope's future is about to be in the hands of a jury once again.
Lawyers for the prosecution and defence gave closing submissions Thursday in Pope's second-degree murder trial. It's the second time the 38-year-old St. John's man has stood trial for the same charge, after winning a new trial from the Supreme Court of Canada in a March 2022 decision.
Pope is accused of killing 36-year-old Jonathan Collins on Sept. 17, 2017. Collins suffered a single stab wound after an altercation near Mundy Pond Road.
For the prosecution, the closing submissions read like déjà vu.
"It's our position that there is no question who was responsible for that stabbing," said prosecutor Kathleen O'Reilly. "That person is Craig Pope."
Kathleen O'Reilly and Shawn Patten are both Crown prosecutors in Craig Pope's second trial for second-degree murder. (Ryan Cooke)
O'Reilly walked the jury through what they heard from witnesses in the case. Pope and Collins had spent the day together in the back of a cab, making about a dozen stops around the metro St. John's region.
There was a plan involving the sale of a TV, and the taxi headed to a residence on Alderberry Lane to meet with Pope's father, Craig Pope Sr. When the elder Pope handed $60 cash into the back of the taxi, witnesses say an altercation broke out.
"This seems to be the catalyst of what happens next," O'Reilly said.
This Jiffy Cab was processed by police on Sept. 7, 2017. (Sgt. Ron Simms/Royal Newfoundland Constabulary)
The taxi driver, Jeff Cromwell, testified Collins was lying on his back in the rear seats of the cab and kicking his feet at Pope. He then sprang out of the car on the opposite side of Pope, and began shuffling backward toward Mundy Pond Road with his fists up.
A resident looked out his window after hearing a man cursing at someone outside. He said he saw a stocky, shirtless man slap his hands above the door of the cab and yell, "Come on, bitch."
Multiple witnesses said the shirtless man, whom the Crown believes they've proven to be Craig Pope Jr., was the aggressor in the altercation. They said Collins tried to use his backpack to defend himself. Cromwell said Collins threw a phone at Pope at one point, striking him in the face.
A few moments after the fight spilled onto Mundy Pond Road, Collins collapsed to the ground.
Collins was 36 when he was killed. He was the father of two children. (Submitted by the Collins family)
A passerby parked their car to block oncoming traffic from hitting Collins. Cromwell, the taxi driver, said Pope returned to the car and appeared calm.
"It's at this point, Craig Pope says to Jeff Cromwell, 'Run him over,'" said O'Reilly.
She later described what was required to meet the standard of second-degree murder, telling the jury they must come to the conclusion that Pope intended to cause bodily harm that was likely to kill Jonathan Collins.
She returned to the order Pope allegedly gave to Cromwell when he got back in the car.
"These are the words of a man who knew full well what he was doing."
Cromwell didn't heed Pope's alleged demands but he did drive him to an area of St. John's known as "the Courts." It was there a police officer spotted a man matching the description of the suspect that was put out over the radio and initiated the arrest of Craig Pope.
Pope was photographed by police before they took his clothes. Blood belonging to Collins was found on his pants. (Royal Newfoundland Constabulary)
Defence raises manslaughter
Following O'Reilly, Pope's defence lawyer, Mark Gruchy, tried to poke holes in the Crown's case with possibilities for reasonable doubt.
Gruchy spoke with the tenor of a preacher at times, asking and answering his own questions between dramatic pauses.
Three key things were missing from the Crown's case, he contended: "How this fight begins, how this fight continues and how this fight ends are the critical centrepieces for this case."
Gruchy, right, suggested the possibility of provocation in the fight between Pope and Collins. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)
He raised a theory that the fight between Pope and Collins was "consensual," pointing to evidence from Cromwell that they were both throwing punches and moving back and forth while "fighting like cats and dogs." Gruchy argued it was Collins, not Pope, who first introduced a weapon by throwing a cellphone at Pope's face and possibly splitting his lip open.
Gruchy asked the jury to consider "provocation" — a legal concept in which a person commits a crime after someone or something causes them to lose control. If the jury finds there was a provocation, Pope could be found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.
He also asked the jury to consider where the knife came from. The murder weapon was never recovered, and Gruchy said it's impossible to know who pulled a knife in the midst of a fistfight since none of the witnesses actually saw the weapon or the stabbing. Gruchy raised the possibility it was Collins who pulled the knife in an effort to level the playing field.
"That doesn't look like murder. That looks like manslaughter," he said.
Gruchy wrapped his testimony around 3 p.m. on Thursday. Justice Glen Noel will read a 64-page "charge" — a set of instructions on legal concepts to consider — to the jury, who will then be sequestered and begin deliberations.
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