As the Crown wound down its case against J.S.R., on trial in the Boxing Day 2005 murder of teenager Jane Creba, it made a stunning joint admission with the defence.
"Louis Raphael Woodcock had the gun when the shooting started outside the Foot Locker," said the statement presented to the jury on Thursday.
Woodcock, also known as "Big Guy," had been carrying the Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun as he moved with a group through the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto before the incident on Dec. 26, 2005.
Forensic scientists who have testified at the trial say Woodcock's DNA had been found on the slide and handle of the gun. J.S.R.'s DNA wasn't found on the gun.
The handgun has been linked to the shooting scene outside a Foot Locker store just south of the intersection of Elm Street with Yonge Street. That area is about a block north of the Eaton Centre.
For the Crown to prove J.S.R. guilty of murder, it must establish that he fired the handgun during a brief gun battle on the street -- a shootout that saw Creba and several others caught in the crossfire.
The defence has argued that Woodcock fired the Ruger but gave it to J.S.R. for disposal after the shootout and that J.S.R. didn't fire it at all.
J.S.R. -- he was 17 at the time of the incident, therefore he cannot be fully named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act -- had the Ruger on him when police arrested him at Castle Frank subway station about 40 minutes after the shooting.
The defence had its chance to cross-examine Crown witness David Tarnowski, whose car was stuck on Yonge Street just as the shooting started.
Defence lawyer Gary Grill went after Tarnowski on inconsistencies in his testimony, such as flipping back and forth on the race of the suspect (J.S.R. is black).
In a sad denouement, Alison Creba, Jane's older sister, said in a brief admission of facts that she was in the Sam the Record Man when a security guard yelled for everyone to get down. Jane had briefly separated from her to find a washroom at a Pizza Pizza outlet across the street.
Alison never saw Jane again.
Police took the Creba family to St. Michael's Hospital later that evening, where Jane had been pronounced dead.
With the Crown finished presenting evidence, the defence will have an opportunity to present some of its own when the trial reconvenes next Wednesday.
If they choose not to call any, the trial will move on to final arguments before Justice Ian Nordheimer instructs the jury before deliberations.
Woodcock will face trial in 2009 for his alleged role in the death of Creba, as will Jeremiah Valentine. Court has heard allegations that Valentine fired the shot that tore through Creba's aorta, although that hasn't been yet proven in a court of law.
J.S.R. is not accused of firing the shot that killed Creba, but under recent advances in Canadian criminal law, he can be found guilty of murder if the Crown proves he participated in a gunfight and another person returned fire that struck and killed a bystander.
Besides a charge of second-degree murder, J.S.R. is charged with six counts of attempted murder and five weapons charges.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Chris Eby
