After he was reportedly shot in the parking lot of a Regina convenience store, a 21-year-old man told police he believed the shooter was a 200-pound tattooed man, court heard.
But, when given a photo lineup to look through, the man picked out a 130-pound woman: Faith Goforth.
On Tuesday, a Regina Court of Queen’s Bench jury was left to decide a case that came down largely to identity.
Since last week, 20-year-old Goforth has been standing trial for attempted murder and discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life. On Tuesday, the jury returned to hear closing arguments from Crown and defence counsel as well as final instructions from Justice Jeff Kalmakoff, following which they began their deliberations shortly before 4 p.m.
During the trial, court heard that on May 5, 2016, the complainant and his brother headed to a convenience store on the 2900 block of Dewdney Avenue where the complainant got into a verbal spat with occupants of a grey car over his being called a “sniff” — said to be a derogatory name for a member of the Native Syndicate street gang.
Court heard at least one occupant of the car was a member of a rival gang identified as the KKQ. It was estimated the complainant was beside the other vehicle for less than 20 seconds when someone inside the car fired a shot from a .22-calibre rifle, hitting him in the abdomen.
He was taken to hospital for treatment. Medical staff were unable to remove the bullet, which remains inside him.
While the jury was asked to weigh a number of factors, the most central was whether Goforth was the person who fired the shot. While Crown prosecutor David Zeggelaar claimed there was enough evidence that, when taken together, shows Goforth was the shooter, defence lawyer Christa Weber argued there wasn’t even sufficient proof her client was in the car.
Although court heard the complainant initially described his shooter as a larger man, Zeggelaar noted the complainant also said he only saw the shooter from the shoulders up. And the prosecutor added there were elements that did match up, including Goforth’s tattoos — one of which is a teardrop beneath her eye like the one the complainant described.
And Zeggelaar noted the complainant picked Goforth out of a police photo lineup and identified her on the witness stand.
The prosecutor referred to additional evidence that he said backed up the complainant’s belief, including a videotaped police statement provided by one of the occupants of the car in which Goforth was allegedly a backseat passenger. While initially reluctant to identify a shooter, the tearful woman eventually provided Goforth’s name.
And, Zeggelaar added, “The evidence does not point to anyone else.”
But Weber noted the woman from the car backed away from her police statement while on the witness stand, testifying she’d lied to police and that Goforth wasn’t even there when the shooting happened.
The defence lawyer added the complainant reported he saw the backseat shooter for only a moment and had never seen the person before.
Weber urged the jury to be cautious about the complainant’s identification of Goforth, noting he claimed to be only 60 per cent sure when picking her out of the photo lineup.
“The right person must be held responsible …,” Weber said. “That person is not Faith Goforth.”
During his charge to the jury, Kalmakoff instructed jurors to be cautious, given the known frailties of eyewitness testimony and the possibility a witness could be mistaken in what he or she saw.
“Honest people do make mistakes,” the judge advised.
The jury returned with several questions shortly after beginning deliberations and had not returned with a decision by press time.
