Shooting case 'drowning in alcohol' now in judge's hands

The case of a man accused of shooting 16-year-old Calli Vanderaa with a stolen police gun is now in the hands of a judge.

Crown and defence lawyers in the trial of Matthew McKay made their closing arguments to Justice Sheldon Lanchberry on Thursday.

McKay, 24, is charged with attempted murder and several weapons offences in connection with the Oct. 24, 2015 shooting outside an Autumnwood Drive convenience store.

Vanderaa, then 16, was sitting in a friend's car when she was shot in the chest at close range through the front passenger door window.

• 'I have no defence': Mountie recounts theft of gun used to shoot teen

Court has heard testimony McKay and another man, Matthew Andrew Miles, had been six kilometres away at a garage party a short time earlier when they allegedly stole a gun, ammunition, pepper spray and other items from an RCMP truck parked outside before leaving the area on stolen bicycles.

McKay and Miles were arrested at their homes the following day. Miles was found in possession of the gun.

Crown attorney Libby Standil argued Lanchberry should have no issue finding that McKay and Miles were present at the party, stole the gun and other items and cycled to aMac's convenience store where McKay shot Vanderaa.

Victim picked McKayout of police photos

Witnesses placed the two men at the garage party and another three witnesses, including Vanderaa, picked McKay's picture from a police photo pack as being the shooter, Standil said.

"Not one picked Miles," she said. "We suggest that is because he didn't come up to the car with the gun."

Defence lawyer Todd Bourcier countered that not one of the three witnesses said they were positive the man they identified was the shooter, noting one saw McKay's picture on Facebook before selecting him from the photo pack. Another witness, Bourcier said, testified he was "50/50" in terms of how positive he was in his identification.

"The court cannot be satisfied it does not leave open the possibility, even the probability, that someone else was the shooter, and that, quite frankly, is reasonable doubt," Bourcier said. McKay "may very well have been the second person there, but we can't say what each person was doing."

Court heard attendees at the garage party had been drinking bottles of vodka and that McKay and Miles had left the party to buy more liquor before returning and allegedly stealing the gun. Court heard Vanderaa and her friends had also been drinking prior to the shooting.

• Witness claims no memory of stolen police gun being used to shoot teen
• Identification, intoxication key issues at trial for man accused of shooting teen with stolen police gun
• Calli Vanderaa, teen shot with stolen RCMP gun, sues police

Bourcier said the extreme intoxication of witnesses both at the garage party and shooting scene cast their testimony under a cloud of doubt.

"This case is drowning in alcohol and vodka and the problems that causes with memory," Bourcier said.

Bourcier argued the Crown had not proven "whoever was the shooter" had the intention to commit murder. Bourcier said the shooting happened suddenly, with no motivation.

'Black-out' drunk?

"There is no overwhelming evidence the person was in control of their faculties," he said.

Miles testified at trial he was "black-out" drunk more than McKay and had no memory of the shooting, contradicting a video police statement that pointed to McKay as the shooter.

Earlier this week, Lanchberry rejected a Crown motion to admit Miles' police statement into evidence.

Standil argued Thursday witness testimony and security video showing Miles ably purchasing liquor a short time before the shooting belied his claim of extreme intoxication. And then there was the two men's six-kilometre bike ride to the shooting scene.

"It is unbelievable to imagine someone so extremely drunk to the level required to negate intent, being able to ride a bicycle that distance," Standil said.

Lanchberry will deliver his verdict Jan. 18.