Attempted murder trial continues after downtown shooting

CTV Windsor: Victim reliable witness? An attempted murder trial continued with defence lawyers arguing the victim is a reliable witness. Michelle Maluske reports.

Two Brampton men will stand trial for their role in the shooting of a Windsor nightclub bouncer.

Justice J.P Howard ruled Thursday in Superior Court that there is enough evidence to proceed with a verdict against 22-year-old Kevin Nyadu and 26-year-old Shadrack Smankwa.

Their defence lawyers had submitted a motion for acquittal, saying there is no physical evidence tying the men to the shooting of Devonte Pierce.

Pierce was shot in the back on Oct. 5, 2014 while working at the Boom Boom Room, a nightclub downtown which has since closed. He survived his injuries.

Justice Howard just ruled against the defence motion saying "the circumstantial evidence reasonably supports the evidence Kevin Nyadu shot Devonte Pierce and they (Shadrack Amankwa) were both attempting to escape.”

In a previous ruling in February, Justice Howard threw out gun powder residue evidence taken from Nyadu's hands, saying his Charter rights were violated with how police collected the swab. Police didn't give Nyadu a chance to call a lawyer before the swab was taken.

Nyadu is charged with six offences including attempted murder. Amankwa is charged with eight offences including being an accessory to an offence.

In testimony during the 12-day trial, court heard the two men were being removed from the bar by Pierce, who told the court he got the suspect described as “the man in red” out of the bar and then he was shot.

Court heard Nyadu and Amankwa fled the scene together, with Amankwa caught on video surveillance near a bush where a hand gun was recovered by windsor police.

Justice Howard also noted in his ruling Thursday that there were multiple witnesses who described the shooter as “the man in red.” Court heard Nyadu was wearing a red shirt and had on a red hat on the day of the shooting.

Justice Howard also pointed to video surveillance of Amankwa immediately after the shooting. While the judge concedes the video doesn't show him throwing the gun behind a bush, it does show Amankwa bending down and coming close to it.

Neither Defence lawyer called any evidence on Thursday, so Crown Attorney Tim Kavanagh began his closing argument.

All three lawyers are expected to wrap up closing arguments on Friday, at which point they will set a date for Justice Howard to bring down his verdict.