By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Jury hears closing arguments in manslaughter trial

May 31, 2018 | 12:49 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The defence closed their case Thursday morning, May 31, in the manslaughter trial of Jillian Across the Mountain.

With the Crown noting that they had no rebuttal evidence to call, the two sides proceeded to closing arguments before the jury, who have spent the last three weeks hearing about the circumstances surrounding the death of 56-year-old Frances “Candy” Little Light in February of 2016.

“This situation is really best characterized as a tragedy,” said Across the Mountain’s defence lawyer, Michael Dietrich. “They were friends. They lived through all the hell of their addictions to alcohol, their addiction to other substances.”

Dietrich referred to his client’s testimony, in which she said Little Light seemed like a different person that morning and scared her, and that she later came at Across the Mountain with a knife, forcing the accused to defend herself.

“If a person is attacked by an assailant carrying a knife, does that person have the right to defend themselves?” he asked the jury.

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“[Little Light] did try to kill Jillian Across the Mountain, and she had a right to defend herself,” Dietrich continued, saying to the jury, “You would try to defend yourself. It’s human instinct.”

He next discussed evidence from others who encountered Little Light that day, including two other tenants in the west side apartment building where she was killed. Dietrich noted that they heard the victim banging on doors of other units, yelling that she would kill someone.

That connected to testimony from two Lethbridge Police Service officers who responded to a 911 call regarding the disturbance caused by Little Light. They both stated that she appeared to be very intoxicated and was belligerent with them.

“The police are telling you that [Little Light] was very aggressive, very threatening,” Dietrich said.

Going over Little Light’s autopsy report, Dietrich stressed that while it listed the cause of death as multiple stab wounds, only one of the three wounds – a severed artery in her left arm – was fatal. He said that if you intended to kill someone “you attack them in the body cavity,” not the arm, saying it was more consistent with grappling.

Dietrich also went over evidence entered by one of their expert witnesses, Dr. Valerie Massey, who said Across the Mountain suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and has the language comprehension of a young child.

“The bottom line is: she is very, very mentally injured through no fault of her own,” Dietrich stated. “She didn’t want Candace to die. She was her friend, her companion.”

The closing argument then went in a different direction, as Dietrich suggested the most difficult part of the Crown prosecutor’s job is to decide against charging someone when police suggest such action. He added that police are primarily interested in seeing charges laid and then “shrug their shoulders” regardless of the ultimate outcome of the case in court.

Before concluding, Dietrich asked what Little Light might say about the case if she was still here. He suggested that she would admit that she was acting “crazy” that day and would not want to see any harm come to Across the Mountain.

Closing arguments were expected from the Crown Thursday afternoon, however an issue arose that prompted the court to send the jury home for the day. The trial will resume Friday morning.