Crown prosecutors are pushing back on a motion from the defence to toss out the jury in the trial of a Winnipeg man accused of murdering four women.
The defence is asking that the case of Jeremy Skibicki be heard by a judge alone and not by a jury.
His lawyers are raising concerns about the possible effects of pretrial publicity on the jury, which was selected last week.
They have brought in U.S.-based psychologist Christine Ruva to hear her views about the possible effects of pretrial publicity on juror biases.
Ruva said research suggests exposure to pretrial publicity that’s negative toward an accused person leads to a better chance that person will be found guilty by a jury.
“Once you’ve been exposed to pretrial publicity, you now take information in during trial in a manner that’s different than you would have if you hadn’t been exposed to it. You will not be aware of this process, because it’s unconscious,” she said in court Tuesday, where she appeared virtually.
“It isn’t necessarily that jurors are wilfully disobeying instructions. It’s because of these cognitive mechanisms — even if they want to be a good juror, they may be unable to do so because of exposure to this information.”
However the Crown is questioning the relevance of such testimony given Ruva is testifying about a jury trial in Canada based on research that focuses on the legal system in the United States.
“Her only experience is with relation to the American process. And the pretrial publicity, as she agreed, is not the same [in Canada],” Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft said.
Jurors were not in court on Tuesday or on Monday, the first day of Skibicki’s trial. They’re expected to start hearing evidence May 8.
Skibicki, who was again brought into court with his ankles shackled and sat silently in the courtroom Tuesday, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.
He’s charged in the 2022 deaths of three First Nations women: Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24.
He’s also charged with first-degree murder in the death of a fourth unidentified woman, who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by community members. Police have said they believe Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe was Indigenous and in her mid-20s, but the location of her remains is unknown.
Roughly two years ago, in mid-May, partial human remains later identified as belonging to Contois were discovered in a garbage bin near a Winnipeg apartment building. The following month, police recovered more of her remains from the Brady Road landfill in south Winnipeg.
Police said their investigation determined the three other women had been killed between March and May 2022 — before Contois died. Myran’s and Harris’s remains are believed to be in the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg, police have said.
Ruva will continue testifying Tuesday afternoon.