Experts renew call for challenge changes, jury lists with more Indigenous names
Some legal experts and Indigenous advocates say the trial of a Saskatchewan farmer accused of murdering a Cree man highlights a long-standing need for more diversity on juries.
A jury has acquitted Gerald Stanley, who testified that he accidentally shot Colten Boushie when the young man and four others drove onto Stanley’s farm near Biggar, Sask.
Boushie’s family voiced frustration after no visibly Indigenous jurors were selected at the beginning of the trial and after the verdict was returned Friday night. Boushie’s uncle Alvin Baptiste said the verdict from “a white jury” shows how First Nations people are treated in the justice system.
Several Indigenous people were rejected by the defence during jury selection with what are called peremptory challenges.