Kurt Churchill to get new trial on charge of uttering threats against police officer
CBC
A new trial has been ordered in the case of a St. John's man who had previously been found guilty of threatening a police officer following a late-night dispute on George Street three years ago.
Kurt Churchill received a conditional discharge for that offence in November 2020, after a brief trial. No conviction was entered, which meant Churchill would not have a criminal record.
However, Judge David Orr did impose a DNA order on Churchill, requiring him to provide genetic material for inclusion in a Canada-wide police database.
Churchill appealed the guilty verdict, and won a Supreme Court order that he wouldn't have to provide that DNA while the appeal was ongoing.
The uttering threats charge related to an incident in March 2019. Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers were called to George Street around 3 a.m. after receiving reports of a man throwing punches outside the Martini Bar. Bouncers were trying to remove him.
The police took Churchill into custody. At the St. John's lockup, Churchill made abusive comments to police, before telling an RNC officer, "I'm going to put my boot in your f--king head."
During his sentencing hearing at provincial court, Churchill apologized, and said he had no recollection of what happened.
In a decision issued this week, Supreme Court Justice Glen Noel found that the trial judge "erred on a question of law regarding the contextual approach to the mens rea analysis," and ordered a new trial.
"Mens rea" is the element of an offence related to intent.
Churchill's lawyers had highlighted the fact Churchill was handcuffed in the back of a police car behind a protective barrier at the time of the incident. They also noted the police had complete control of his movements at the time, and the officer didn't ask for assistance.
"To be clear, Churchill is not saying the trial judge's reasons are insufficient, but that the failure to consider the entire contextual circumstances is an error of law," Noel wrote in his decision. "I agree."
Churchill was charged last year in relation to the 2020 slaying of James Cody.
He is facing a charge of murder, along with various firearms-related offences.
Cody was found dead of a gunshot wound on the pavement on Craigmillar Avenue in the west end of St. John's in the early morning of July 5, 2020.
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