Evidence concludes at Kalen Schlatter murder trial amid coronavirus concerns
Jury deliberations expected to begin next week
The jury has now heard all of the evidence at Kalen Schlatter's first-degree murder trial in the death of Toronto woman Tess Richey.
Now, with concerns growing across the province over the spread of COVID-19, it's expected the jury will begin its deliberations at the end of next week.
Before excusing the jury for the day Friday, Superior Court Justice Michael Dambrot said the court will do everything possible to keep people safe, including providing taxi rides to and from court for any jurors who need them.
"We're going to do our best to keep you all healthy," Dambrot said.
Schlatter's trial is winding down just as the Superior Court of Justice cancelled jury panels for any upcoming criminal and civil trials. Jury trials that are already underway will continue.
"This is a precautionary measure to keep the public, court users and staff safe," said Jenessa Crognali, a spokesperson for Ontario's Attorney General, in a statement.
Schlatter's defence team called its final witness Friday morning — a private investigator named James Marlow.
He provided photo and video evidence of the area near where Richey's body was discovered.
The Crown alleges Schlatter sexually assaulted and then strangled Richey before leaving her body at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell in the city's gay village in 2017.
Schlatter, 23, has pleaded not guilty in connection with the 22-year-old woman's death.
The jury has seen security camera footage of Schlatter and Richey together in the early morning hours of Nov. 25.
That includes video showing the pair walking up a driveway to the outdoor stairwell where her body was later discovered at 582 Church St., before Schlatter emerges alone about 45 minutes later, heading back the way they came.
On Friday, Marlow showed a video he shot of a fence behind that location. This came just after testimony from a man the defence presented as an alternate suspect.
The video showed Jessyca Greenwood, one of Schlatter's lawyers, climbing over the fence, before another man did the same thing. The Crown objected to its relevance, as the video was shot years after Richey's body was found.
Some people in the body of the court laughed out loud at the video, while Richey's family looked on, incredulous.
Dambrot cautioned the members of the jury that they have no evidence to show that the fence was in the same position it was back in 2017, so the had to be careful about how they consider it when deliberating.
Closing statements from the defence and the Crown are set to happen on Monday and Tuesday, with Dambrot's charge to the jury slated to happen on Friday.
Once the charge is finished, the jury would then begin its deliberations.
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