REGINA – It will still be some time before a decision in to the case of a Regina mother accused of murdering her son will be made.
The Court of King’s Bench case concerns Chelsea Rae Whitby, who stands accused of second-degree murder in June, 2020 of her 18-month-old son, Emerson. As the third week of the case wrapped, the question of whether certain elements of evidence would be considered was raised.
The majority of witness testimony was entered under a voir dire (essentially a trial within a trial), and Justice C.L. Dawson heard both the Crown and defence positions on if it ought to be admissible. More than 20 witnesses were called to provide testimony by the Crown, and other evidence including audio and video statements was presented over three weeks of the trial thus far.
Crown prosecutor Adam Breker argued that the information presented was crucial, noting “all evidence, if it touches on the nature of the relationship to the victim, is relevant.”
“Clearly, our submission is that there is a range of inferences that can be drawn,” Breker said.
The Crown is seeking to establish the relationship between mother and child contained “prior misconduct toward the victim,” that inferences of frustration and lack of intention could possibly be drawn. The Crown argues that there’s evidence of abuse by Whitby, there were injuries that occurred while Emerson was in her care and that circumstances existed to suggest the relationship ”lacked suitable care and attention.”
“This is not a trial of everything that Ms. Whitby has ever done, it’s not a trial whether Emerson was abused,” said defence lawyer Darren Kraushaar during his submission, noting that the purpose of the trial was to determine intentional homicide.
To the point of increased tension and frustration raised by Breker on Whitby, Kraushaar stated there was no direct evidence presented during testimony to support the claim. Kraushaar noted that in fact, his client received more support from people in her life, thus easing any sort of tension as s single mother.
Regarding two witnesses that did provide direct evidence, Kraushaar pointed to the frailties that existed in their testimony. In neither situation described did Emerson become physically injured or display a change in demeanour.
“The disconnect here is that there is no direct evidence that Ms. Whitby caused any of these injuries,” Kraushaar said, noting at one point that the Court would be required to break down the evidence individually, determine if it is relevant, then decide what it is relevant for. After the teasing apart of the evidence, another step is required in his view - that of determining the inference the Court is to draw from those pieces.
To simply accept everything contained in the complicated voir dire testimony was something Kraushaar disagreed with.
“Our position is that this type of evidence is generally quite dangerous,” he said.
Justice Dawson adjourned proceedings until April 21, when a date will be set for a decision on the voir dire evidence.
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