Closing arguments made in trial of teen accused in fatal stabbing

The accused was 17 years old when Brett Bourne, also 17, was killed in Kelvin High School in 2015. (Pixabay photo)

WINNIPEG— The defence argues a young man accused of fatally stabbing a 17-year-old boy did what was necessary to protect a friend but the Crown says it wasn’t reasonable to bring a knife to a schoolyard fight.

The accused was 17 years old when Brett Bourne, also 17, was killed in Kelvin High School in 2015.

He is now 19 and pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Court has been told that Bourne tried to start a fight with a student at the school, but the other teen didn’t want to fight so Bourne chased him inside the school, followed by that student’s friends, including the accused.

He testified during the trial that he thought Bourne had a knife and when he saw the young man reach into his pocket, he stabbed him.

On Tuesday, defence lawyer Greg Brodsky told the jury it was a split-second decision, and they must decide not whether it was the correct choice, but a reasonable one.

Brodsky said in his closing arguments the accused “did what was necessary to protect his friend,” and said the victim was “a determined irrational fellow, talking to him would have been a waste of time.”

“Brett may have deserved a criminal charge of assault, but he didn’t deserve to die,” Crown attorney Erika Dolcetti countered in her closing arguments.

She pointed out statements the accused made to police and his mother that were later revealed to be untrue.

“We say it’s clear the accused is prepared to lie,” she told the jury. “He lied again and again. He is untrustworthy. Discount the accused’s version of events.”

She said his decision was not reasonable: “He did not need to bring a knife to a fist fight.”

The judge is expected to read her charge to the jury on Thursday, then it will be up to the jurors to decide the accused’s fate.