FRIDAY
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June 8, 2012
A division of
Vol. 27 No. 46
COMOX VALLEY RECORD Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
FAIRY GOOD D BOOK
Altercation led to murder — witnesses James Denton murder trial continuing at Supreme Court in Courtenay
Mary Murphy’s second novel is about fairies. ■ B1
OWE THE PODIUM
Own The Podium? It’s more like Owe The Podium. At least that’s the ongoing situation for Canadian beach volleyball players trying to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. “Absolutely nothing has happened,” said Conrad Leinemann, COO of CAN Fund in response to a Record inquiry of Volleyball Canada funding of our nation’s Olympic hopefuls – including Comox Valley’s Martin Reader and Maverick Hatch.
... Complete story on ■ B11
FINDER ■ Weather
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■ Ferry Schedule
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■ Editorial
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■ Opinion
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■ Arts
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noted, and added Denton made a motion to back off. He then explained he remembers the accused pushing Denton, while Denton didn’t retaliate with a push, but held his own. “That’s when I saw all the blood,” the witness said. During cross-examination, defence lawyer Michael Mulligan asked if the group the witness was in walked away from the verbal altercation. “No,” he replied. Mulligan then questioned the witness’ recollection of the pushing between Denton and accused, and questioned whether the witness was intentionally lying to help his friend. Supreme Court Justice R.B.T. Goepel addressed members of the gallery who appeared agitated during cross-examination of the
Erin Haluschak Record Staff
What began as a verbal altercation between two groups of friends escalated to the eventual death of 19-year-old James Denton, court heard through witness testimony this week. Friends and family of both the deceased and the accused have packed a Courtenay Supreme Court courtroom every day since the start of the trial Monday. They listened to witnesses describe what happened following the conclusion of The Rhythm on the Rock Music Festival on July 23, 2011. Crown counsel (prosecutor) Gordon Baines noted in his opening statement, Denton was stabbed twice last July — once in the left armpit and once in the left lower back — near the entrance to G.P. Vanier Secondary School. The 16-year old suspect accused of his death — who cannot be identified because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act — has been charged with second-degree murder, although Crown indicated in the past he will seek an adult sentence against the suspect if convicted. Court heard from a variety of witnesses this week who noted words were exchanged between two groups of friends at the conclusion of the concert as attendees were making their way back to their vehicles. As one witness explained, Denton and a group of friends joined together to provide support to a friend who received taunts from another group of friends. As the two groups met on the road near the intersection of Schellinck Drive and Headquarters Road (main entrance to G.P. Vanier school), the witness said the groups were arguing and “trying to be tough.” “(The accused) said. ‘Don’t mess with my friends,’” the witness
BRIAN
He asked why the witness told police in his initial statement he saw the accused waving a nineinch knife at the time of the incident. “That’s why you made up those lies — to make your good friend James Denton to not appear as though he started the fight,” said Mulligan. The witness did admit he initially lied to police because he was in shock and didn’t know what to do, but gave police a second statement Aug. 4, 2011. Mulligan still questioned its validity. Thursday, a witness close to Denton noted that, following the initial verbal altercation with the two groups, “Eventually it came down that we were shaking hands, and we thought the problem was done,” he stated. ... see STABBING ■ A3
witness, and asked them to keep their emotions in check. Wednesday afternoon, court heard from a close friend of Denton how, when walking back to a friend’s car following the conclusion of the festival, a group of three or four people yelled at him wanting to fight. He told Crown he yelled back, not wanting to fight, but said even as the two groups of friends eventually met at the intersection, the tone was initially “pretty calm, we were just standing there. I said ‘I don’t want to fight — I’m not from here,’” he testified. Baines asked the witness if he saw anyone in either group holding a knife or any other weapon, to which the witness replied “no.” Mulligan later questioned the witness’ recollection during crossexamination.
AGAINST THE MINE An unidentified protester was among a group of young people loudly opposing the Raven underground coal project Monday at the Bank of Montreal in downtown Courtenay. Story, page A3. PHOTO COURTESY CTV VANCOUVER ISLAND
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