Adam Drake’s defence lawyer delivered his closing arguments in a Dartmouth courtroom Monday, saying the Crown didn’t prove his client killed battle rapper Pat Stay and he should be found not guilty.
Drake, 34, is accused of fatally stabbing Stay inside a Halifax bar in 2022 and is charged with second-degree murder.
Defence lawyer Michael Lacy opened and ended his closing arguments by asking jurors not to fall for what he called “confirmation bias.”
Lacy played frame-by-frame surveillance footage from the moment of the stabbing, arguing the quality is too poor to conclude that Drake stabbed Stay and that you can’t see the movements of others.
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On Friday, Crown attorney Tanya Carter played through that same footage and said based on proximity to Stay, no one else but Drake could have dealt the stab wound to the heart.
But the defence says the Crown ruled out other witnesses too easily, including one who punched Stay following the stabbing.
Carter said the Crown believes Drake concealed a knife in a bag, but Drake’s lawyer argued the bag contained no DNA evidence that belonged to Stay.
When presenting footage on Friday, the Crown said Drake is seen looking in Stay’s direction before he arrives and thrusts forward, before Stay turns around with blood on his shirt and then leaves out a back door.
Lacy called the implication that Drake waited out Stay’s arrival “utter nonsense,” suggesting no one in his group knew of Stay’s plan to come to the club.
The defence closed its argument by saying there’s still unanswered questions and asked the jury to avoid “outside noise around the case.”
The jury will be back Tuesday morning as deliberations are expected to begin.
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