Jury begins deliberations in trial of man accused of murdering Pat Stay

The judge gave his final instructions to the jury ahead of their deliberations in the Adam Drake murder trial.

The jury has begun deliberating in the murder trial of the man accused of killing battle rapper Pat Stay in Halifax in 2022.

Adam Drake has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. His trial has sat over the span of six weeks.

Justice Scott Norton delivered his final instructions to the jury Tuesday morning. The jury started deliberations around 2:10 p.m.

They retired for the day around 6 p.m. and will resume Wednesday morning.

Norton said the jury must find Drake not guilty unless the Crown has proven all the essential elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

He said there are three elements that would need to be proven:

• Adam Drake caused Pat Stay’s death
• Adam Drake caused Pat Stay’s death unlawfully
• Adam Drake had the state of mind required for murder

Norton told the jury Drake does not challenge that Stay died as the result of an unlawful act – a stabbing.

“This case is about the identification” of the stabber, Norton said.

“It is not enough for you to believe that Adam Drake is probably or likely guilty,” he said. “In those circumstances, you must find him not guilty because the Crown would’ve failed to satisfy you of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“It is nearly impossible to prove anything to an absolute certainty,” he said, adding that is not the requirement for the Crown.

“However, the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt falls much closer to absolute certainty than it does to ‘probable guilt.’”

He urged jurors to reach an agreement if they can. He said a verdict requires all jurors to agree on the decision, regardless of whether they agree on how they got to that decision.

“You must consider the evidence and make your decision without sympathy, prejudice or fear. You must not be influenced by public opinion,” Norton told the jury.

Drake is accused of stabbing Stay at the Yacht Club Social, a former nightclub on Lower Water Street in Halifax, on Sept. 4, 2022.

Stay was pronounced dead at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre less than an hour after he was stabbed.

Drake was arrested for murder at a gas station in Upper Tantallon, N.S., the morning of Sept. 10, 2022.

Three possible verdicts

Norton told jurors there are three possible verdicts:

• guilty of second-degree murder
• guilty of manslaughter
• not guilty

If they find that Drake caused Stay’s death unlawfully, but did not have the state of mind for murder, they must return a verdict of guilty of manslaughter.

Crown theory

Norton read the Crown’s theory, saying in part that Stay was “blinded” by Drake at 12:35 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022.

“Mr. Drake couldn’t wait to do it, he said so himself 18 weeks prior,” referring to a Facebook comment he made on a music video that Stay posted.

“Mr. Drake, in the heat of the moment and after stabbing Pat, briefly pursued him but was held back by his friends,” jurors heard from the Crown’s theory.

The Crown alluded to Drake leaving through the back stairwell and rear exit after “a pit stop in the men’s washroom,” before heading to the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel.

He gave his bag to another man, the theory stated, “who assisted Mr. Drake by getting rid of the murder weapon; the knife.”

The Crown said Drake was the only one in an altercation with Stay and was “perfectly positioned, diagonally across the table of the dark back corner of the nightclub and thrusted the knife into the centre of the chest.”

“The murder was fast, it was on purpose, and it was in the heart,” said the Crown.

The Crown closed its case on June 10.

Defence theory

Drake’s defence team says the Crown has “fallen far short of proving beyond a reasonable doubt” that he was the person who stabbed Stay.

The defence called into question the quality of the video surveillance, and the position of the camera, among other things.

Stay appeared “agitated,” according to the defence, before Drake stood up in the VIP area where the two “appear to engage verbally, but the music is loud and there’s no evidence as to what was said.”

“At no point is Adam Drake seen pushing, exhibiting any kind of stabbing motion or otherwise physically making contact with Pat Stay.”

Accepting the Crown’s argument would involve “confirmation bias, disregarding the presumption of innocence and other reasonable innocuous inferences,” said the defence theory.

The Crown’s “circumstantial case” does not rise to the “highest standard of proof, proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the defence said, urging jurors to return a not-guilty verdict.

The defence elected not to call any evidence at the trial.

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