Crown tells jury ‘Pat was blindsided’ in Adam Drake’s murder trial

Crown prosecutors told a jury Adam Drake should be found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Pat Stay.

Crown prosecutor Tanya Carter told a jury repeatedly on Friday that Pat Stay was “blindsided,” when he was fatally stabbed at the Yacht Club Social before 12:36 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022. She said Adam Drake had “accomplished his goal” after Stay was stabbed.

Drake is on trial for second-degree murder and has pleaded not guilty.

Closing arguments were a process of elimination, as Carter explained why the Crown argued three other individuals could not be responsible for Stay’s killing, saying “that only leaves Adam Drake.” That’s because identity is the “main issue,” in this case, she told jurors.

Carter reminded the jury that Drake is presumed innocent, unless the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of murder. She listed 19 reasons why jurors should reach that verdict.

One reason was a Facebook comment made by Adam Drake about 18 weeks earlier on a music video posted by Stay, a well-known battle rapper.

“Csnt wait to give u a big hug,” the comment reads with an apparent typo. The Crown argues that jurors can infer that was an “implied threat.”

Drake was also seen on video footage “hovering” around the front door of the Yacht Club, focused on something. Carter rhetorically asked what Drake was doing, and if he was waiting “to see Pat Stay, perhaps?”

Carter acknowledged the Crown doesn’t have a motive – nor does it need one – and that you can’t see a knife in the video surveillance from the nightclub. No knife was ever recovered.

Brinn McKenzie, a server at the club, previously told the jury she heard a verbal altercation between Stay and Drake.

After that, there is a “critical moment” at 12:35:53 a.m., when Carter says you can see “Pat Stay’s body is impacted,” and alleges Adam Drake’s body “jerks forward.”

There was no blood on a Gucci satchel Drake was wearing that night, but the Crown alleges Drake went into the washroom with “plenty of time to wash a knife” before leaving the club through a back door.

Carter said if jurors conclude that Drake stabbed Stay, they must also determine if he had the intent to kill him – or intent to cause bodily harm that is likely to cause death – in order to return a guilty verdict.

“What could be better than a loud, chaotic night club, in a dark back corner, when you’re surrounded by your buddies, willing to help you out,” she said.

“Pat was blindsided.”

At the end of her closing submissions, Carter thanked jurors for their attention in the trial and asked that they find Drake guilty of second-degree murder.

On Monday, Drake’s defence lawyers will make their closing arguments after electing not to call any evidence.

Justice Scott Norton will give his instructions to the jury on Tuesday before they begin deliberations.

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