Two men charged with manslaughter in a downtown Kelowna murder on Canada Day in 2018 are back on trial after a three-month delay.
Noah Vaten and Nathan Truant are accused of being part of a group that tracked and beat Esa Carriere near the Queensway Transit Exchange on July 1, 2018.
The two stood on trial until February and March this year when Crown Prosecutor Martin Nadon was appointed provincial judge, which delayed the trial when a new prosecutor took over the case. The trial resumed Monday July 26th and is slated for the remainder of this week, with the option to run even longer.
Although the trial is resumed, the trial remains in voir dire – essentially a process within a trial to review evidence – to assess the admissibility of statements Vaten made to police shortly after his arrest in January 2019. Much of the evidence presented in the voir dire is prohibited from publication.
However, these statements were discussed in the days leading up to the March adjournment.
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After his arrest in Winnipegosis, Man. On January 26, 2019, Vaten told police that his memories of the events of the previous Canada Day were blotchy due to the drugs and alcohol he used that night. He claimed he passed out at 8 p.m. hours before Carriere was attacked just before 11 p.m. the Rutland Community Policing Office.
Vaten spent the night in a holding cell. His cellmate that night testified earlier in the trial that Vaten confessed to the murder and even pursued it. Vaten’s friend Colby McKee-Lanchick also testified that Vaten admitted the murder the morning after the murder.
The conversation between Vaten and the interrogator remained cordial until he informed Vaten that his story did not match the reports given to the police by the people he was with that night.
“People told us directly that you were involved,” the officer said after long questioning.
Vaten replied, “If I told people that I went around and did it, that would be damned, wouldn’t it?”
As the interrogation continued, Vaten finally admitted the officers had been killed – the main point of contention in the voir dire.
Vaten’s lawyers claim the interrogation should not be admissible evidence. They claim that this is a violation of Vaten’s charter rights, particularly in relation to his right to have a lawyer when talking to the police – which he denied several times during interrogation.
Vaten and Truant were charged on January 26, 2019, which means the verdict will come more than two and a half years after their indictment. In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Jordan issued a precedent ruling that found cases must be brought to higher courts in Canada without extenuating circumstances within 30 months.
Two others were also charged with manslaughter in Carrieres death. One was sentenced to a 15-month rehabilitation program in January while the other is awaiting trial.
@michaelrdrguez
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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BC Supreme Court Kelowna Killing Trial
