Curtis Healy found guilty of 1st-degree murder in rape and beating death of Dawns Baptiste
After about six hours of deliberations and following a failed mistrial application by the defence lawyer, a Calgary jury has found Curtis Healy guilty of first-degree murder for the rape and killing of Dawns Baptiste.
About a dozen of Baptiste's family members were in the courtroom when the verdict was read out Friday afternoon and many began crying, including her brother.
"[We're] relieved," said Baptiste's brother Alex. "It's been a roller-coaster ride but we stuck it out."
"We lost a woman that was really strong."
Healy had no visible reaction.
He faces an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. A sentencing hearing has been put over to Monday, when three victim impact statements will be read.
Over the past two weeks, jurors heard evidence that Healy, 29, and Baptiste, 31, met on the LRT on Feb. 11, 2015. They got off together at the Whitehorn station.
But Baptiste was trying to get to her friend's house and when she rejected Healy's sexual advances, he became enraged.
Healy knocked Baptiste to the ground and stomped on her head 17 times, he told a police detective after his arrest.
Then, he dragged her to a stranger's backyard, where he raped Baptiste while she was face down in the snow.
After the rape, Healy decided to "finish her off," grabbed a rock and used it to smash her in the head.
Two days later, Baptiste's body was found by a passerby who noticed a pool of blood on the sidewalk.
When he was arrested, Healy had his victim's blood on his clothes. DNA testing would later reveal his semen was on her jeans and inside her vagina.
Mistrial application denied
Earlier Friday, Justice Charlene Anderson ruled jurors would continue deliberations after defence lawyers sought a mistrial when it was revealed some jurors were not properly sequestered the night before.
The family members of Baptiste were audibly relieved in the courtroom when the mistrial was denied.
After hearing two weeks of evidence, jurors were sequestered Thursday afternoon. Concerns were raised Friday morning that the night before, after failing to reach a verdict and retiring to their hotel for the night, jurors had been brought to a restaurant where televisions were on.
Defence lawyer Shamsher Kothari told Anderson he's never heard of this type of incident before.
"I'm of the view that a mistrial is inevitable," said Kothari Friday morning.
Deliberations were suspended while four jury guards were brought into the courtroom to give evidence on protocols and details of the incident.
Jurors are to have no contact with television, newspapers, cellphones, the internet or members of the public.
Jurors questioned by judge
The jurors were brought to the hotel restaurant by two jury guards around 10 p.m. The overnight guard — who also works as a sheriff — stayed with the nine who ordered a drink while a second guard took the remaining three jurors up to their hotel rooms.
The TV screens were tuned to a sports channel, according to the guards.
Each juror was also called into court and confirmed they saw nothing on the televisions about the case and did not speak with anyone besides fellow panel members about the case.
A mistrial should be granted "as a last resort," said prosecutor Carla MacPhail in her arguments against a mistrial.
"There is simply no evidence of outside influence on the jury," said MacPhail.
Though she said it was "improper" that jurors had been brought to a lounge with TVs, the judge agreed and denied the defence's mistrial application.
In closing arguments, defence lawyers Shamsher Kothari and Curtis Mennie conceded Healy was guilty of killing Baptiste but argued he should be convicted of the lesser offence of second-degree murder.
