Death occurred in 1993

Man guilty of manslau

By DAVE TAYLOR
DWAIN ELLIOT Taylor’s
future changed from a life in
prison to a life of freedom
last week, as a jury reduced
his charge from murder to
manslaughter for the 1993
killing of Gale Annette
Morrison, 29 at the time of
her death.

After a short deliberation
foliowing the verdict,
Supreme Court Justice W.H.
Davies then — sentenced
Taylor to time served — the
three years and three months
he’s spent in prison since
the killing —- pius two years
probation,

Taylor closed his eyes and
let out a sigh of relief as the
verdict was read, The jury,
made up of eight men and
four women had left the
courtroom on the afternoon
of July 9, and took just over
24 hours to reach their deci-
sion on the ten-day tria},

The previous week, crown
prosecutor Mike Fulmer had
wrapped up bis case against
the accused. That left
defence council Terry
Laliberte to call witnesses,
and he called only one:
Taylor bimself.

The jury heard a chilling
tale of how a night on the
town went horribly wrong.

A small man with long
blond hair, Taylor looks
younger than his 28 years.
His voice broke often when
he recalled his memories of
what happened early on

’ Easter Sunday 1993.

Taylor told the jury that he
had been separated from his
common-law wife in Ed-
monton, and moved back to
Terrace with their two chil-
dren to look for work and
sort out their relationship,

He said be dropped the
children off at a babysitter
the night before the killing
50 he could attend a stag
party at his friend’s house.
Taylor said that at the party,
he helped himself to the
beer in the fridge and then
shared a 26 ounce bottle of
vodka with his brother.

The party continued Jater
at Hanky Panky’s bar where
Taylor said he drank several
hiballs and shooters before
he was kicked out at around

11 p.m.
After the bars closed
Taylor attended another

drinking party at Raymond
Brown's house,

“IT remember drinking
beer like it was water,"’
Taylor told the jury.
‘Taylor said he alsa
smoked marijuana at the
party, Other parly-goers had
testified that Taylor seemed
very drunk and almost
knocked over the television
and at one point. He also
Stood on an olfoman and
pretended to be a radio an-
nouncer.

But Taylor said he doesn’t
recall ever leaving the partly.
He said that the next thing
he knew, he woke up at the

Thornhill gravel pit where a
memorial to his deceased
brother, Buddy Potter, was
located. He said he was
dirty and covered in ants,
with a pain in his groin and
no idea of how he got there.

Taylor claimed that the
first time he realized some-
thing was wrong was when
he showered that afternoon
and the bottom of the tub
tumed red with blood, He
thought be must have been
in a fight the night before
and didn’t remember.

On the stand, Taylor’s
voice broke and tears came
to his eyes as he recounted
what he remembered later
that day, at his mother’s
house.

“I remembered holding
this girl in my arms and
there was blood pouring out
of her ears,’’ he said,

Taylor said that many
other details did not come
back to him until long after
he had been arrested. He
says about a week later he
Tecailed having sex, and a
month later being Kneed in
the groin.

It wasn’t until two months
after his arrest that he
recalled hitting a woman
over the head with a stick.
That came back to him after
getting beat up in jail, when
he was shown a newspaper
clipping about Morrison’s
death,

“It all came in bits and
pieces,’ said Taylor.

Second trial for Taylor

THE TRIAL of Terrace
resident Dwaine Taylor over
the past three weeks was the
second time the accused
stood before a jury of his
peers for the murder of Gale
Annette Morrison.

Taylor, now 28, - had
otiginally been convicted of
second degree murder for
the killing of the 29-year-
old woman. He was
Sentenced to, life in prison

with no chance of parole for.

10 years,

But the B,C, Court of Ap-
peal overturned the verdici,
saying that the trial judge
erred when instructing the
jury on issues of intoxica-
tion and provocation. Both
issues can be used as
defences to reduce a charge
from murder to mans-
laughter,

This time, Supreme Court
Justice WH. Davies was
very caulious in bis instruc-
tions to the jury.

Davies stressed that for
the jury to find Taylor guilty
of murder, they had to be
certain beyond a reasonable
‘doubt that he either intended
to kill Morrison or was
reckless about whether his
actions would lead to her

death.
Davies also stressed that
both intoxication and

provocation can be used as
defences, by law, to reduce
_ the charge lo manslaughter.
These issues can reduce. the
‘charge because they bring
the accused’s intent at the
time of the killing into ques-
tion,

It was these two issues
- that defence lawyer Terry
Laliberte focussed on during

the trial in attempting to
prove that Taylor had been
exceptionally drunk and was
provoked,

kkkkk

In sentencing Taylor to time
served, Justice Davies noted

that the man had been in.

prison since his arrest,
But since he was essentially
in a holding pattern until the

. tial was concluded, Taylor
_couldn’t take part in the

prison rehab programs open
to people who are serving
sentences after being con-

victed.

That being the case,
judges double the time peri-
od spent in prison when
considering sentencing
should a person be found
guilty.

In Taylor’s case that
worked out to six and a half
years (double the three years
and three months he had
spent in jail waiting for his
trial),

And that time period, said
Justice Davies, was an ap-
propriate sentence for
Taylor to serve.

nce

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He claimed that he now
remembers meeting a girl,
walking with her, holding
hands and kissing, But te
said he doesn’t remember
any conversation with her.

He said that the two went
to a secluded area, laid
down their jackets on a
mossy slope and had sex.
Afterwards, he says, he
handed back her coat, she
kneed him in the groin and
he fell to his knees.

“'T totally lost it,” Taylor
said, breaking into tears. ‘I
just snapped. I picked up a
stick and I hit her. It hap-
pened really fast,’

Earlier, pathologist Dr.
Laural Gray had testified

that Gale Morrison had been -

hit at least four times on the
back of the skull with
tremendous force.

During Taylor's cross-
examination, crown prose-
cutor Mike Fulmer badgered
him, trying to get Taylor to
admit that he hadn't been
very diunk and had been
looking for female com-
panionship that night.

Taylor consistently denied
the allegations. At one point
he became frustrated with
Fulmer’s line of questioning
and yelled at him. He ex-

ghter

plained to Fulmer that he re-
members the incident in pic-
tures and scenes, like watch-
ing a movie.

"T know my body was
there,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘But
my mind was gone."

Taylor repeated how he

teniembered the killing,
saying that he was like a
zombie at the time. ‘I blew
up,”” he said. ‘It was a total
berserk scene. I couldn’t
stop myself.’* —
‘ During his closing state-
ment, defence lawyer Terry
Laliberte told the jury to
keep in mind that witnesses
had testified Taylor looked
‘stoned’? and was stum-
bling around shorily before
the killing.

He also emphasized that
the mentally handicapped
victim was known to lash
out unexpectedly, especially
over items of clothing.

Prosecutor Fulmer, on the
other hand, described the
crime as brutal, and said that
a man was unlikely to lose
control after being kneed in
the groin,

The victim's sister, who
had been present throughout
the trial, began to cry as the
sentence was read.

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