Juror dismissed from Strasser-Hird trial after claims visit from victim's ghost

[Carissa Hoffer-Halliet]

Juror dismissed at start of Strasser-Hird trial after claiming visit from victim's ghost
Kevin Martin
More from Kevin Martin   
Published on: June 13, 2016 | Last Updated: June 13, 2016 10:08 PM MDT
The Calgary Courts Centre.

The Calgary Courts Centre. Crystal Schick / Calgary Herald   


Perhaps if they had inquired about the eventual verdict, participants in the Lukas Strasser-Hird homicide trial could have avoided more than a month of evidence.

Just one day into the multi-week trial on May 5, an unidentified female juror indicated to Justice Glen Poelman she was no longer able to remain impartial in the case.

In a letter she sent to the Court of Queen’s Bench judge, read into the court record by him, the juror explained she couldn’t go on after hearing Crown lawyer Marlo MacGregor outlining the prosecution’s case the previous day.

“I was presented with information the evening of May 4, 2016, which I feel directly impacts my ability to act as a jury member on this case with an unbiased opinion,” the juror said in her note to Poelman.

“I have a gift of being an intuitive and medium, and although I did not believe this gift would impact my ability to provide judgment on this case based solely on the facts presented before me in court … I am wrong,” she said.

The unnamed woman then told Poelman she could explain to him what a medium is if he wished.

“I can describe it as the ability to see, hear, feel, sense those that have died or whom are about to be born,” she said, before explaining what occurred to impact her impartiality.

“Last night the deceased presented himself to me and made me feel what he went through as he was being killed, the intensity of his injuries, and the location of his wounds,” she said.

“He also showed me information relating to those who beat, stabbed, and kicked him.

“I cannot get those horrible images out of my mind. I feel what he felt,” she explained.

“I hear what he heard. He kept repeating the phrase ‘I’m sorry, I am so sorry, please tell my family I am sorry.'”

The woman then explained she wasn’t asking Poelman to believe in the paranormal.

“Sir, I am not asking that you believe in what I experienced last night, but I ask that you believe in how this has affected me on a personal, mental, and physical level,” she said.

“It was, and never has been, my intention to retract my ability to fulfil the juror role or come into court with a bias, but at this point I feel I can no longer act as a member of this jury fairly and without bias towards the accused,” she said.

With the agreement of counsel, Poelman excused the woman from further service.

Charged with second-degree murder in Strasser-Hird’s Nov. 23, 2013, slaying are Franz Cabrera, Jordan Liao, Joch Pouk and Assmar Shlah.

The remaining jurors are now deliberating the case.

KMartin@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @KMartinCourts

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/juror-dismissed-at-start-of-strasser-hird-trial-after-claiming-visit-from-victims-ghost

[Carissa Hoffer-Halliet]

The paranormal encounter left the juror unable to proceed with the trial. Image Credit: sxc.hu
A juror for a murder trial in Canada wrote to the judge after the victim's spirit appeared to her.
In a letter sent to Justice Glen Poelman of the Court of Queen’s Bench, the unnamed juror asked to be dismissed from the Lukas Strasser-Hird homicide trial because she claimed that the victim's ghost had appeared to her with information that she believed would compromise her neutrality.

"I have a gift of being an intuitive and medium," she wrote. "I can describe it as the ability to see, hear, feel, sense those that have died or whom are about to be born."

"Last night the deceased presented himself to me and made me feel what he went through as he was being killed, the intensity of his injuries, and the location of his wounds."

In the letter she went on to explain that she was not asking the judge to believe in the paranormal but had felt it necessary to express how this experience had affected her mentally and physically.

"It was, and never has been, my intention to retract my ability to fulfil the juror role or come into court with a bias, but at this point I feel I can no longer act as a member of this jury fairly," she wrote.

Following a counsel consultation, Poelman agreed and opted to excuse her from jury duty.

Source: Calgary Herald