Jury finds Jillian Across the Mountain not guilty of manslaughter

“The family is very frustrated and angry with the verdict that we received today. Where is the justice system?” said Little Light-Breaker.

“Candy, we love you, we care about you,” she added. “We tried our best for you and we’ll always be here for you.”

While Across the Mountain’s lawyer, Michael Dietrich, had yet to discuss the outcome with his client before speaking to the media, he noted that she appeared to be relieved to have the case behind her.

“This is a case where we did not portray Ms. Little Light, the deceased, as a villain,” said Dietrich. “This is more in the line of a tragedy, a tragedy of Shakespearean proportion. We have two women who met when they were teenagers, 16 and 17 years of age, they were friends for 39 years. And what happened here was tragic – it was fueled by alcohol and drugs.”

Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles also took a few moments to discuss the case and responded to questions about whether they will be launching an appeal.

“There’s no certainty that there are going to be any next steps,” explained Giles. “Of course, first thing that everybody has to do is assess exactly what happened from as dispassionate a perspective as we possibly can, so as to ensure the next decision, if any decision, is the appropriate one.”

Across the Mountain claims self-defence

“[Little Light] grabbed the knife off the table,” Across the Mountain said while on the stand. “I was trying to hold her hands and we started struggling… when you’re scared you don’t know how strong you can be. I was self-defending myself.

“It happened really fast. Then she backed away. That’s when I saw the blood.”

Across the Mountain testified that on the night before and morning of the confrontation, she had been consuming beer, hairspray, Listerine, and various pills with Little Light. She said that she had seen Little Light intoxicated before but that things were different on this occasion.

“She wasn’t the same Candy I knew… that was enough to scare me,” said Across the Mountain. “There was something wrong with her that day… it was almost like there were two [versions of Little Light].”

After seeing the blood, Across the Mountain said she panicked and fled the scene, saying Little Light was still standing. She added that Little Light never released the knife during the incident.

When asked by the Crown during cross-examination how Little Light came to be stabbed twice in the back while holding onto the knife, Across the Mountain could only say, “I don’t know. We were struggling.”

While she originally said she didn’t tell police about what had happened because she had forgotten the event – but remembered what happened part way through her trial – Across the Mountain then said she didn’t say anything because she was afraid they wouldn’t believe her.

Police called to apartment prior to Little Light’s death

As part of the Crown’s case, they called two Lethbridge Police Service officers to the stand. They responded to a disturbance at Little Light’s apartment building on Feb. 7, 2016, after other tenants reported the victim was banging on doors and yelling in the hallways of the building. Both said Little Light appeared to be very intoxicated and was belligerent towards them, while Across the Mountain seemed sober and cooperative.

The two officers said Little Light was aggressive but not combative, and as she had returned to her apartment, they felt the situation had resolved itself and left.

They were forced to return minutes later to speak with Little Light again, as she called 911 four times in quick succession to complain that the officers were harassing her. In the calls Little Light could be heard slurring her words and yelling at the operator.

FASD expert says accused is “globally impaired”

The defence called FASD expert Dr. Valerie Massey to the stand as part of their case.

She testified that after meeting with and assessing Across the Mountain, she found that the accused presented as being “at the bottom of the spectrum” for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and being globally impaired. She also noted that Across the Mountain’s decision-making abilities are extremely limited.

Massey added that Across the Mountain’s language comprehension is roughly equivalent to a child of three or four years of age and that, “Her conversational English was about the lowest I’ve ever seen.”

She said the language issue can lead to significant memory impairment, as it prevents an individual from being able to create a clear narrative in their mind that links events throughout a day. As a result, Massey said some people with FASD fabricate information to “start filling in the gaps” in their memory. She stated that it’s not deliberate or deceitful, and that the individual often believes what they’re saying even if it’s not accurate.

by Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Jury finds Jillian Across the Mountain not guilty of manslaughter

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