Regina Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Ellen Gunn will spend two days giving the jury instructions at a Regina murder trial involving the starvation death of a four-year-old girl and serious harm to her two-year-old sister.
She began this afternoon, explaining how the law applies. Tomorrow she will be more specific and give the jury its final direction before it begins deliberating the fate of Kevin and Tammy Goforth.
The jury will have to come up with four verdicts. Each accused is facing one charge of second-degree murder in the death of the older girl, and one charge of causing unlawful harm to her younger sister.
Both girls were rushed to hospital on August 1, 2012 suffering severe malnutrition and dehydration. The four-year-old had no heartbeat when she arrived. She was later declared brain dead and taken off life support. Feeding and fluids helped the two-year-old recover. Both girls weighed about 23 lbs. when they were admitted to hospital.
Today, the lawyers presented their closing arguments, going over the evidence presented over the past three weeks.
There were 20 witnesses, dozens of exhibits and hundreds of photos of the two little girl — the last ones showing them in hospital, emaciated, bruised and with open sores.
The defence told the jury the Goforths loved the girls, took them on outings, fed them, cared for them and did their best. Tammy Goforth’s lawyer, Jeff Deagle, says the girls had the flu for a couple of weeks before they ended up in hospital and Tammy was doing her best to nurse them back to health.
Deagle told the trial, “Sometimes bad things happen because they were intended to happen, but that is not the case here.”
Prosecutor Kim Jones told the jury, “Trust your gut, trust your judgment and use your common sense.” He says the photos of the girls before and after they were under the care of the Goforths speak volumes.
The jury will be told to consider each charge against each accused separately and come to a decision based solely on the evidence.
They are expected to begin that task tomorrow afternoon.