The first person convicted in connection with the fatal shooting of Jane Creba will not have his subpoena tossed, which means he will be called to testify against those charged with killing the 15-year-old.
Judge Ian Nordheimer ruled Tuesday morning that he had no basis to squash the subpoena served to 20-year-old Richard Steele, who may have been the intended target during the Boxing Day 2005 gang shootout on Yonge Street.
After the decision was handed down, Steele launched into a profanity-laced tirade, telling the judge "You just opened up my family to danger you don't understand...you just helped them kill me," The Globe and Mail reported.
Steele then called the crown attorneys "a piece of shit" before he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
Lawyer Selwyn Pieters argued to have the subpoena tossed, saying Steele's life would be in danger if he is forced to testify in the trial of 10 men accused of murder and manslaughter in relation to Creba's killing.
"He felt that he will be killed if he takes the stand, and that's a legitimate fear," Pieters said, adding Steele's mother and sister would also be in danger.
Pieters cited the code of silence practiced in the criminal underworld as "you don't rat, you don't inform, and you don't (help) the people who are attempting to jail you."
Judge Nordheimer said being called to testify at a criminal trial "is not a voluntary exercise."
"I acknowledge that (Steele) will be viewed by some individuals as a "rat," but that fact that there are some people who have misguided, perverse notions of what it means to be a citizen of this country is no basis for quashing this subpoena," Nordheimer ruled.
"To do so would undermine the very foundations of the justice system."
Nordheimer on Tuesday also refused to issue a publication ban on a Toronto police officer's affidavit that sheds more light on the events leading up to the fatal shooting.
The detective's detailed account alleges Steele was standing next to Creba when gunfire erupted between two rival gangs.
The affidavit, which includes evidence from wiretaps and interviews, says Steele was robbed of his cellphone by some of the youths on Yonge Street the day Creba was killed.
In February, Steele was convicted of gun and drug charges that came to light through the Creba investigation. He is serving a six-month sentence.
Steele's mother Valerie told CTV News she's not afraid for her life, but fears for her son's safety. Steele says he has already suffered a severe beating by another inmate.
He is set to take the witness stand at a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
