A defence lawyer attempted to hammer away at the credibility of a key witness against Noel Francis on Wednesday.
Francis is accused of killing 20-year-old Devane Campbell during a home invasion at a townhouse on Elm Ridge Drive in Kitchener. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Last week, jurors heard from Stevie Stephens, who testified that he had turned down Francis’ request to join him in a robbery in Kitchener, which was planned for the night Campbell was killed.
Stephens claimed that Francis dropped off a bag containing a gun at his house on the night of the robbery, and said a few days later that he had shot someone during the robbery.
Following several days of legal arguments, the trial resumed Wednesday with Stephens being cross-examined by Francis’ lawyer, Chris Murphy.
Jurors heard that when Stephens first provided a statement about Campbell’s murder to police, he said he didn’t know anything about it.
Asked about the discrepancy between that statement and his testimony, Stephens replied that at the time of his statement, he was “discombobulated” and hadn’t remembered what Francis had told him.
Murphy also brought up a recent email between a correctional officer and a Waterloo Regional Police employee, in which the correctional officer claimed that Stephens told her he was only testifying because he thought the weapons charges he is facing would be dropped if he did.
Stephens said he didn’t “recall the conversation being like that.”
Murphy argued that Francis may have never confessed anything to Stephens.
“You were trying to save yourself from a murder rap,” he said at one point.
“At the end of the day, maybe, yeah, that’s possible,” Stephens replied.
The trial continues on Thursday.
With reporting by Nicole Lampa
