GUILTY Canada - Renee Sweeney, 23, murdered, Sudbury, Ont, 27 Jan 1998 *arrest in 2018*


Preliminary report on Judge's instructions.

"Judge corrects 'inaccurate' comment made during Crown's closing argument"
The judge began the day by correcting something the Crown said in its closing statement on Monday, saying that Wright never told anyone that he ran from the murder scene until he was arrested in 2018.

Gordon made it clear that the Crown's comment was "inaccurate," that the evidence the court heard was that Wright never told his parents about what he did that day, and that the jurors "must not use his silence to infer that he fabricated his story."
 

Starting to see some of the stuff under publication ban.

"Renée Sweeney's family warned by judge after 'inappropriate' attempt to 'sway' Sudbury jury"​

Interesting detail that Fetterly was a defence witness they chose not to call, only for them to throw shade at the Crown for not calling him in the closing statement.
 

''MISTRIAL COULD HAVE BEEN DECLARED​

On March 6, the trial came to a screeching halt when someone connected to the Sweeney family arrived at the Sudbury Courthouse with a decal on their vehicle.

The decal read, 'Guilty AF,' and the vehicle was parked in the area where the jury entered the courtroom each morning.

Defence attorney Michael Lacy argued that it was an attempt to purposely communicate with and influence the jury – and arguably could be grounds for a mistrial.''

''DID WRIGHT TELL ANYONE WHAT HAPPENED?​

Parsons told jurors that Wright remained silent for 25 years and didn’t tell anyone what happened until he was arrested.

That’s significant because if Wright had told the same story to other people over the years, it’s less likely he just made it up when he was arrested to cover up the crime – something known as "recent fabrication" in legal terms.

In fact, Wright only testified he didn’t tell his parents or siblings, Lacy said, not that he had never told anyone.''
 
Happened to drive by the Courthouse about 15 minutes ago. There's a group of six people gathered on the front steps. Verdict watch of some kind at that hour I'm sure. Four women, two men. One hugged another person there. Didn't want to gawk but had impression of tall guy kind of rough around the edges and two middle-aged women. Surprised me to see them there.
 

''MISTRIAL COULD HAVE BEEN DECLARED​

On March 6, the trial came to a screeching halt when someone connected to the Sweeney family arrived at the Sudbury Courthouse with a decal on their vehicle.

The decal read, 'Guilty AF,' and the vehicle was parked in the area where the jury entered the courtroom each morning.

Defence attorney Michael Lacy argued that it was an attempt to purposely communicate with and influence the jury – and arguably could be grounds for a mistrial.''

''DID WRIGHT TELL ANYONE WHAT HAPPENED?​

Parsons told jurors that Wright remained silent for 25 years and didn’t tell anyone what happened until he was arrested.

That’s significant because if Wright had told the same story to other people over the years, it’s less likely he just made it up when he was arrested to cover up the crime – something known as "recent fabrication" in legal terms.

In fact, Wright only testified he didn’t tell his parents or siblings, Lacy said, not that he had never told anyone.''

Wonder what to make of the "footprint impression taken from Nepahwin Avenue" discussed here, which only came up briefly early on -- do they really mean footprint or shoeprint I wonder, given the similarity to the Brooks print in the bathroom?
 
Wonder what to make of the "footprint impression taken from Nepahwin Avenue" discussed here, which only came up briefly early on -- do they really mean footprint or shoeprint I wonder, given the similarity to the Brooks print in the bathroom?
1680049351153.png
Brooks shoe prints found in bathroom of Adults Only Video after Renee Sweeney was murdered in Sudbury Jan. 27, 1998. (Supplied)

''In particular, there was the image of a Brooks brand running shoe that emerged when the area was treated by a special chemical that reacts with blood.

Sgt. Jeff Myatt, an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) fingerprint and shoeprint expert, testified that identifying shoe impressions is a highly specialized skill that a layperson would not be able to do reliably.

However, during closing arguments, Parsons told jurors that a footprint impression taken from Nepahwin Avenue -- and believed to belong to Wright -- was similar to prints found in the video store bathroom.

It was the first time that was suggested to the jury -- and drew the ire of the defence.


"The evidence of Insp. Myatt left no proper foundation for the Crown to invite the jury to attempt to compare the impressions and come to the conclusion that the impressions were from the same footwear," Lacy said''.
 
View attachment 411751
Brooks shoe prints found in bathroom of Adults Only Video after Renee Sweeney was murdered in Sudbury Jan. 27, 1998. (Supplied)

''In particular, there was the image of a Brooks brand running shoe that emerged when the area was treated by a special chemical that reacts with blood.

Sgt. Jeff Myatt, an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) fingerprint and shoeprint expert, testified that identifying shoe impressions is a highly specialized skill that a layperson would not be able to do reliably.

However, during closing arguments, Parsons told jurors that a footprint impression taken from Nepahwin Avenue -- and believed to belong to Wright -- was similar to prints found in the video store bathroom.

It was the first time that was suggested to the jury -- and drew the ire of the defence.


"The evidence of Insp. Myatt left no proper foundation for the Crown to invite the jury to attempt to compare the impressions and come to the conclusion that the impressions were from the same footwear," Lacy said''.

Hmm ... we may have to go back to see what exactly was said during the trial about the footprint impression.
 
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They've never shown the gloves in a news article, have they?


Hmm ... we may have to go back to see what exactly was said during the trial about the footprint impression.

We're not told if there was any connection made between the suspect and the footprints.

from the link below...

Earlier in the morning, the jury heard Waugh describe the Brooks running shoe footprints taken from the bathroom of the crime scene.

He contacted officials with Brooks, who provided a list of stores in Sudbury that sold the shoe. He found what he believed to be the best match to the shoe was a size 9 at Sears and grabbed a pair – adding he had permission to take them.

"I did not steal them," he said, in a rare light moment at the trial.

"It was the closest impression I had seen from my photographs."

Officials with Sears told Waugh that they had 17 pairs of that particular shoe in stock and had only sold four pairs since receiving the shoes in summer 1996.

Waugh also testified that he processed footprint impressions found at a Nepahwin Avenue address that police believed were linked to the case.

When he arrived, he said the footprints were covered in boxes to keep them intact. He painted a type of red wax on the footprints to preserve them and bring out more detail.

"At that time, I photographed both footwear impressions," Waugh said.

 
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Hmm ... we may have to go back to see what exactly was said during the trial about the footprint impression.

We're not told if there was any connection made between the suspect nd the footprints.

from the link below...

Earlier in the morning, the jury heard Waugh describe the Brooks running shoe footprints taken from the bathroom of the crime scene.

He contacted officials with Brooks, who provided a list of stores in Sudbury that sold the shoe. He found what he believed to be the best match to the shoe was a size 9 at Sears and grabbed a pair – adding he had permission to take them.

"I did not steal them," he said, in a rare light moment at the trial.

"It was the closest impression I had seen from my photographs."

Officials with Sears told Waugh that they had 17 pairs of that particular shoe in stock and had only sold four pairs since receiving the shoes in summer 1996.

Waugh also testified that he processed footprint impressions found at a Nepahwin Avenue address that police believed were linked to the case.

When he arrived, he said the footprints were covered in boxes to keep them intact. He painted a type of red wax on the footprints to preserve them and bring out more detail.

"At that time, I photographed both footwear impressions," Waugh said.

 
I fear there will eventually be an appeal or mistrial due to the jeep issue.

It's always a delicate dance between lawyers trying to lay grounds for an appeal and judges trying to avoid being overturned. Hopefully the judge assessed this one correctly.

It's interesting to me that Kim did that. There was an interview sometime before the trial where she was very careful not to say anyting prejudicial that could mess anything up because "the most important thing to her was a fair trial". Either she didn't connect that goal to her signage or has been emotially pushed to a different place. If you deeply felt he was guity it could be galling listening to this particular defense.
 
We're not told if there was any connection made between the suspect nd the footprints.

from the link below...

Earlier in the morning, the jury heard Waugh describe the Brooks running shoe footprints taken from the bathroom of the crime scene.

He contacted officials with Brooks, who provided a list of stores in Sudbury that sold the shoe. He found what he believed to be the best match to the shoe was a size 9 at Sears and grabbed a pair – adding he had permission to take them.

"I did not steal them," he said, in a rare light moment at the trial.

"It was the closest impression I had seen from my photographs."

Officials with Sears told Waugh that they had 17 pairs of that particular shoe in stock and had only sold four pairs since receiving the shoes in summer 1996.

Waugh also testified that he processed footprint impressions found at a Nepahwin Avenue address that police believed were linked to the case.

When he arrived, he said the footprints were covered in boxes to keep them intact. He painted a type of red wax on the footprints to preserve them and bring out more detail.

"At that time, I photographed both footwear impressions," Waugh said.


I think I remeber at some point an officer said that he couldn't do much to compare the prints in the snow due to technical limitations of....something. Maybe the vastly different surfaces? Floor vs ground/snow?
 
I’m also curious why the jury entered through the main entrance. You’d expect it would be more private to protect their identities, for safety and so others wouldn’t try to persuade them.
 
It's always a delicate dance between lawyers trying to lay grounds for an appeal and judges trying to avoid being overturned. Hopefully the judge assessed this one correctly.

It's interesting to me that Kim did that. There was an interview sometime before the trial where she was very careful not to say anyting prejudicial that could mess anything up because "the most important thing to her was a fair trial". Either she didn't connect that goal to her signage or has been emotially pushed to a different place. If you deeply felt he was guity it could be galling listening to this particular defense.
Justice Robbie Gordon came to the bench from a family with a law background. He was a lawyer for two decades. He has been serving as a justice for 16 years.

Lawyers on either side can appeal decisions, but the justice has depth of experience.

 

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