Now that the trial of Gerald Stanley is over, the full story can be told about why Kiora Wuttunee did not take the stand for the Crown.
Wuttunee was one of the two female passengers in the grey Ford Escape vehicle on the day Colten Boushie was shot and killed. She had originally been on the Crown’s list of witnesses.
In an embargoed scrum with reporters last Monday, Crown prosecutor Bill Burge confirmed Wuttunee had been subpoenaed to appear as a witness at the trial.
But on Thursday morning, Feb. 1, she did not show up at the Battleford court house to testify.
“She did not obey her subpoena and come to court,” Burge said. The Crown had to get a warrant for her arrest after Belinda Jackson had testified.
But after Jackson confirmed that Kiora was asleep when the shooting took place, the Crown decided Wuttunee’s testimony wouldn’t be needed.
“Belinda advised everyone that Kiora was asleep at the time,” said Burge.
“She had to tell Kiora what happened after Kiora woke up. This is similar to what Kiora said at the preliminary hearing. There didn’t seem to be any purpose in now calling her as a witness, simply to say that she was asleep and didn’t know what happened.”
Burge also confirmed that Wuttunee did show up to court later on that day. The warrant for her arrest was ultimately cancelled.
