Closing arguments are scheduled to begin next month at the double murder trial for the man accused of killing an innocent Coquitlam teen and a gangster in 2018 after defence counsel told the jury Monday the accused would not be calling any evidence.
Kane Carter, 28, who has been using a walker to enter and exit the courtroom during this trial, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.
Crown will conduct its closing submissions on Sept. 3 and 4 while the defence will present its final arguments on Sept. 5.
Carter is accused of killing two people – including Coquitlam 15-year-old Alfred Wong – and wounding another innocent person during a gun battle on Vancouver’s Broadway corridor six years ago.
The Crown alleges Carter was in Vancouver to murder Kevin Whiteside, who was himself allegedly in the 100-block of West Broadway to kill gang rival Matthew Navas-Rivas at the time.
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Video evidence from the trial, which began in June, shows a gunman, Whiteside, running down Broadway on Jan. 13, 2018 and shooting wildly at a cab carrying Navas-Rivas.
Navas-Rivas escaped the scene while Whiteside was fatally shot on the sidewalk.
Seconds later, according to surveillance played in court, a burgundy van across the street which the Crown alleges the killer was in, left the scene.
Two innocent vehicles were caught in the gang shooting with catastrophic consequences.
Wong died after being struck by a stray bullet while in the back seat of his parents’ car, on his way home from a family dinner.
A second innocent person in another car was grazed by a stray bullet but survived.
Crown claims the burgundy van at the crime scene is similar to a van found at Carter’s apartment in Surrey.
A bloody tissue and other DNA connected to the accused were found inside, plus three fired bullet casings.
The murder weapon was never recovered.
The burgundy van was not registered to the accused and it’s impossible to know if the bullet casings found inside were tied to the murder weapon because they’re too damaged to analyze, the court has heard.
The case hinges on the Crown’s ability to prove the shooter’s identity.
No witnesses saw who pulled the trigger and the killer was never captured on camera.
At the outset, the Crown told the jury its case is almost entirely circumstantial and that it would not attempt to prove motive.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge is expected to provide her final instructions to the jury on Sept. 6, after which it will begin deliberating a verdict.
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