Nunavut judge gives Bishop jurors big range of options

Jury deliberations got underway late June 8 in the second degree murder trial of Chris Bishop.

In his instructions, Justice John Vertes gave jurors the option of finding Bishop guilty of the lesser offences of manslaughter instead of murder, and assault with a weapon instead of attempted murder.

But those options turn on whether the jury finds that Bishop acted in self-defence when he fired the shots that killed Dean Costa, Keith Atatahak and Kevin Komaksiut and wounded Logan Pigalak and Antoinette Bernhardt.

“Self defence justifies what would otherwise be murder or attempted murder,” Vertes said during his charge to the jury June 8.

Vertes told the jury that lethal force is justifiable when a reasonable person believes they’ll be killed if they don’t use force to defend themselves.

He also reminded them to consider each charge separately and decide whether the shootings were one continuous reaction.

“Perhaps he [Bishop] was justified in some of what he did, but not all of what he did,” Vertes said.

The jury may also decide that Bishop wasn’t acting in legal self defence, but was provoked into shooting the five people that night, at least three of whom had broken into Bishop’s apartment.

During testimony, the jury heard Costa was brandishing a sword when he kicked open the door to Bishop’s bedroom.

Vertes told jurors provocation would reduce murder charges to manslaughter if they find Bishop suffered a “wrongful act or insult” that caused him to act “in the heat of passion.”

Shortly after being sequestered, the seven-woman, five-man jury asked the court for transcripts of the trial.

Vertes said the court was not able to provide verified, proofread, transcripts of the entire proceeding, but could provide specific evidence or testimony for specific witnesses.

The jury also asked for, and received, 12 copies of an agreed, plain-language summary of autopsy reports prepared by Crown and defence lawyers.