Nunavut court: verdict this April in Rankin stabbing death

Colin Makpah, 29, leaves the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit April 29, 2014 after day one of his manslaughter trial. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)

Justice Neil Sharkey will issue a ruling this April on whether Colin Makpah, accused of manslaughter in the 2010 stabbing death of Donald James Gamble in Rankin Inlet, acted in self-defence or is guilty of manslaughter

Justice Robert Kilpatrick announced the date — April 21 at 1:30 p.m.— on behalf of Sharkey in a courtroom Feb. 2 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

Defence and Crown lawyers submitted their final arguments in November 2014, after Makpah’s judge-alone trial wrapped up earlier that year in May.

At the trial Makpah admitted to stabbing Gamble several times in self defence during a drunken get-together at a friend’s apartment.

Makpah said Gamble “was in a rage” on the night of Aug. 14, 2010, attacking all three people in the apartment in turn.

To intimidate Gamble, Makpah said he got a knife from the kitchen. But when Gamble pinned Makpah to the ground, Makpah said he defended himself with the knife, inflicting five stabbing wounds.

Gamble died hours later of internal bleeding.

Defence lawyer Shayne Kert argued during her final submissions before Sharkey that Makpah’s actions fit the criteria of self-defence.

But Crown lawyer Faiyaz Amir Alibhai argued that it was unreasonable for Makpah to introduce a weapon such as a knife into the situation, which Alibhai characterized as a “minor scuffle”.

Sharkey, in deciding if Makpah acted in reasonable self-defence, must consider a number of factors, including what other means of defence were available at the time, and the nature of the threat that Makpah faced.

Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, but carries no minimum penalty unless a firearm is used.

Makpah did not appear in court on Feb. 2, but is required to appear April 21.