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A ‘central’ witness that Crown Prosecutor Cory Bliss argued may be unreliable or who may commit perjury, was allowed to take the stand in the Dallin Singharath second degree murder trial Friday afternoon.
Citing a series of cases, Justice Richard Elson ruled that because two previous witnesses testified the man in question was at the scene of the shooting of 27-year-old Tyler Applegate, the court needed to hear from him. Elson would later determine whether the witness was credible.
The ruling indicated the testimony would not be part of either the Crown or the defence cases but would allow both lawyers to cross-examine the witness, whose name is protected by a publication ban.
Elson ruled that by having ‘The Court’ call him, it would protect the Crown’s case against someone who may perjure themselves and it would also preserve defence lawyer Laura Mischuk’s right to cross-examine the witness. Mischuk earlier told the court the testimony could help her case.
Earlier in the day, Saskatoon Police Sergeant Kyla Hicks testified for the Crown, that she was the file coordinator in the Applegate case, and offered interpretations of social media messages, text messages and phone calls she believed were made by Sangharath.
The accused killer’s cell phone was seized, his apparent Facebook account investigated, and phone calls he made to his mother, and a female friend from jail were recorded.
In one set of messages, it appeared as though Singharath told an associate he had a .22 calibre gun – the same type involved in the Applegate shooting – but needed and requested a clip for it.
During a series of phone calls from the Edmonton Remand Centre where he was being held on an unrelated matter, Hicks testified she believed the 21-year-old accused told a female friend, “don’t be telling nobody what happened in Saskatoon.” The same female Hicks said, was a person of interest because her fingerprints were found on a stolen black Nissan Titan used before and after the shooting.
During another call, Hicks told the court it appeared as though a female told him “do what you gotta do to benefit you.”
27-year-old Applegate was gunned down in his backyard on July 22, 2017, after an altercation with a man urinating on his fence. According to his testimony earlier in the trial, the man called friends to come and get him, and then returned to the home, where Applegate was shot with a sawed-off shotgun.
In an agreed statement of facts presented Thursday, Singharath admitted to pulling the trigger of the gun that killed Applegate, however, he has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder charge.
The trial will continue next week.
