Jurors deliberate in gang war trial

Jurors have begun deliberating in the second-degree murder trial of a man accused of killing a Winnipeg doctor's son.

Jeff Cansanay is on trial for allegedly killing Phil Haiart, 17, who died of a gunshot wound to the stomach after he was shot near the intersection of Sargent Avenue and Maryland Street on the night of Oct. 10, 2005.

The Crown alleges that Cansanay fired the shots at rival gang members as part of a turf war over the crack cocaine trade in the city's West End.

The trial began on March 18. The jury of five women and seven men began deliberating his fate at 4:40 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

Cansanay, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the killing, along with three counts of attempted murder in connection to the shooting.

If convicted, he faces a life sentence without being eligible for parole for a minimum of 10 years. As a permanent resident who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1994, Cansanay also faces deportation.

He is currently already fighting a deportation order issued after a prior conviction. Those hearings begin again in May.

The Crown's key witness in the killing was Gharib Abdullah, a former member of the Mad Cowz street gang who testified that he saw Cansanay holding a gun prior to the shots being fired that killed Haiart and wounded another man.

The Crown alleges that Abdullah and another man, Corey Amyotte, were the intended targets of the shooting.

Amyotte took the stand during the trial but claimed he wasn't at the scene of the crime, despite telling police otherwise in his statement to them a few days after the incident.

Key witness 'a violent liar'

In his closing argument on Thursday, defence lawyer Greg Brodsky urged jurors to dismiss Abdullah's testimony, saying it wasn't credible.

Jurors were told that Abdullah and Amyotte were convicted of contempt of court after they refused to testify at Cansanay's first trial in 2007.

They were acquitted on charges of obstructing justice, but the Crown is appealing that decision.

Abdullah, a parolee, only testified in the current trial to help his case against deportation, Brodsky alleged.

"He told the story that the Crown wants you to hear," Brodsky said, calling Abdullah "a violent liar when it suits him."

"Lying comes easy to these people," the veteran lawyer said.

"Ask yourselves whether there's a firm foundation in this case.

"Ask yourselves whether Gharib Abdullah … is a person you can find that you believe — this time — beyond a reasonable doubt."