Emily Altmann and the Crown’s decision to stay her charges

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The most stunning moment during the bush party homicide trial happened without the jury knowing.

It was on Monday, Nov. 25, just after the biggest shock of the trial to that point had already been announced to the jury the previous week.

That Monday was supposed to be the first day back for the jury after the Crown announced on Nov. 21 it would no longer be proceeding with the second-degree murder charge against Emily Altmann, 22, but would be trying her on the lesser charge of manslaughter in the July 2021 shooting death of Josue Silva, 18.

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Her co-accused, wannabe rapper Carlos Guerra Guerra, 23, remained charged with second-degree murder and both were still on trial for an assault with a weapon of Silva’s best friend, Logan Marshall, 22.

The jury had already been told that a third person charged, Dylan Schaap, 23, had entered guilty pleas to manslaughter and assault with a weapon. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison at a separate sentencing hearing on Dec. 17.

After hearing Altmann’s charge had been reduced to manslaughter, the jury was instructed to return the following Monday afternoon to allow for legal arguments in the morning.

But when court opened at 10 a.m. without the jury present, assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Moser asked Superior Court Justice Patricia Moore for a recess to meet with Crown managers.

An hour later, when court reconvened, came the shocker. “Your Honour,” Moser said. “At this time, the Crown is asking the court to stay count one (manslaughter) and count two (assault with a weapon), against Ms. Altmann.”

That meant that Altmann was no longer on trial. The Crown also withdrew four counts of obstructing justice that had been severed from the homicide trial and were supposed to be tried at a later date.

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“The reasons and the fulsome explanation of why the Crown has made this decision will be put on the record,” Moser said. “But to preserve trial fairness for Mr. Guerra Guerra, the Crown will not be putting those reasons on the record until the jury is sequestered in this trial.”

It was a shock. But given how the trial had been unfolding since it began in mid-October, the decision to release Altmann shouldn’t have been a surprise. Moser and assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred, after reviewing the evidence presented and what was left to be called, recognized there just wasn’t a strong enough case against Altmann.

To secure a second-degree murder conviction against Altmann, the Crown would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew Guerra Guerra would be armed with a loaded handgun when she called him, like a damsel in distress, to seek out the people Altmann said were going to “jump” her and that he intended to use it to kill or cause serious injury that he knew could lead to death and was reckless about it.

What the jury didn’t know was what would have been revealed if it had seen two police interviews with Altmann before and after she was charged: That she has bi-polar disorder and that she had a mad crush on Guerra Guerra, so much so that she would look for excuses to communicate and spend time with him.

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She also said her mental illness weakened her tolerance to alcohol and if she missed her medication dosage, she would drink on purpose and end up “getting crazy.” And she was drunk the night of the fatal shooting.

The interviews were the subject of a pre-trial motion and were deemed to be admissible at the trial. But the case against Altmann never went far enough to have the videos played.

Even though she set the wheels in motion for Guerra Guerra and Schaap to violently crash the party, all but one of the young witnesses, including those who were not in Altmann’s friend group, testified they never heard her say anything about guns or shooting. Also, a few seconds of cellphone video recorded in Altmann’s BMW after the shooting showed Altmann screaming in as much shock as anyone: “He shot him in the (expletive) stomach.”

There had been an effort by Altmann defence lawyer Nathan Gorham in the cross-examinations of young witnesses to flip the script and portray his client as the victim. He accused witnesses of lying, bullying and trying to set up his client. He leaned into the cliquey-ness of high school life, where friend groups are tightknit and shun outsiders.

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Altmann wasn’t part of the Lambeth-area kids at the party who had mostly attended St. Thomas Aquinas and Saunders secondary schools. Her reputation was not particularly enviable and had been cemented by social media and high school gossip.

Gorham suggested Silva, Marshall and their longtime group of buddies, many of whom attended elementary school and played Saunders football together, were some kind of local armed gang itching for a fight the night Silva was shot. Also, Gorham suggested police officers and victim support were coaching them by offering words of encouragement.

His cross-examination of Jessica Falardeau helped to seal the Crown’s decision to stay Altmann’s charges. Falardeau, who was only 15 when she went to the party with Altmann and her sister, was the only Crown witness to testify that she heard Altmann tell people at the party they were going to get “shot” and that Altmann said after talking to Guerra Guerra that he was bringing a gun to settle her score.

But Falardeau’s evidence was flimsy and her credibility was fragile. Her account was radically different. She identified the masked man resembling Schaap as the shooter, said it was a “silver” gun and couldn’t recall names of friends who she said were standing beside her when she said she watched Silva get shot. She got into shouting matches with Gorham and clung to her account even after being presented with undisputed evidence to the contrary, repeating: “I know what I saw.”

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That theory became more absurd as the trial continued, but it was clear that even though Altmann had been the catalyst for getting Guerra Guerra to the party, the evidence wasn’t there to show she knew he would bring a loaded handgun with the intention of using it to kill someone.

Altmann wasn’t offered any deals and she wasn’t required to give evidence against Guerra Guerra. She walked out of the London courthouse with her defence team of Gorham and Breana Vandebeek moments after the judge dismissed her. For the first time in more than three years, there was no criminal liability hanging over her.

After her dismissal, Guerra Guerra’s defence lawyer, Ricardo Golec, asked for time to re-calibrate his case, now that his client was the sole defendant.

The jury was told not to attend court that day. When it returned later that week, Altmann’s chair was empty. Moore, the judge, said she had been excused and told the jury not to speculate why.

jsims@postmedia.com

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