Article content
There is simply no evidence to link the murder suspect Feysal Osman Abdul-Aziz to the fatal shooting of a Calgary man outside a southeast hookah lounge, his lawyer suggested Monday.
Article content
Defense counsel Derek Jugnauth said Court of King’s Bench Justice Paul Jeffrey should order a “directed verdict” in the case of not guilty, as there is no evidence for him to weigh.
Article content
Jugnauth said Crown prosecutors Matt Dalidowicz and Michelle Kai may have argued Abdul-Aziz encouraged the gunman who fatally shot Abdurahaman Indiris to join a melee outside the Portico Hookah Lounge, but the video evidence doesn’t support their theory.
The lawyer said at one point Abdul-Aziz could be seen raising his arm before he walked over to where the deadly altercation took place, a move the prosecution would argue was an invitation to accused gunman Samuel Lugela to join the fray.
“There is no backing,” Jugnauth said of his client’s arm motion.
Article content
The process is referred to as an application for a directed verdict as in the case of a jury trial the judge would direct jurors to enter an acquittal as there would be no evidence for them to conclude otherwise.
Dalidowicz argued surveillance video from a variety of locations showed Lugela was with Adbul-Aziz throughout the evening up to and including the time at which Indiris was shot.
In response to Jugnauth’s submissions, the prosecutor said there were multiple opportunities for Abdul-Aziz to become aware of the shooter, whom his contender was Lugela, was armed.
As a result, Dalidowicz said, Abdul-Aziz’s invitation to get Lugela to join a melee outside the club in which Jugnauth’s client punched a combatant showing they were working in concert.
“He knew that Mr. Lugela had a firearm on him and was willing to use it when he backed him to the fight,” the prosecutor said.
But Jugnauth responded to determine who most of the parties captured on various videos were an exercise in futility.
“Essentially what you have here is an impossible game of where’s Waldo,” Jugnauth said.
Jeffrey will hand down his rulings on both applications on Wednesday.
On Twitter: @KMartinCourts