A first degree murder trial ended on Tuesday with the second of two people originally accused of the crime pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Henry Alexander Joseph Pottie pled guilty to manslaughter by unlawful act in the murder of Jamie Leard, which took place just under two years ago, on May 25, 2021, in Upper Cape, between Cape Tormentine and Port Elgin.
Two people were originally charged with first degree murder in the case, Henry Pottie and Sean Patterson. Patterson pled guilty to second degree murder on April 13, just a few days before the jury trial began on April 17.
Outside the courtroom on Tuesday, Pottie’s lawyer Nathan Gorham told reporters that Pottie had been willing to accept a lesser plea for quite some time, and that the change happened on the prosecution’s side.
“Mr. Pottie felt bad that he had any involvement in the case whatsoever,” said Gorham. “He didn’t want Mr. Leard to die like this, and he didn’t know what was going to happen. And he was willing to accept responsibility for his own actions.”
Gorham told reporters that, “under Canadian law, a person can be guilty of manslaughter if they commit any dangerous unlawful act, and that act causes death.”
“In Mr. Pottie’s case,” explained Gorham, “he’s pled guilty as being a party or a secondary actor, on the basis that he was aware that there was going to be a confrontation of some kind, and that he knew that his behaviour assisted or encouraged the confrontation, knowing that it was a dangerous situation.”
Mistrial application preceded plea
The 14 members of the jury sat on and off for the past two weeks, and heard testimony from twelve different witnesses out of a possible 36 named by the prosecution at the outset of the trial. The most recent testimony came from Zack Johnson, a young man from Point de Bute who told the court he sold drugs to Pottie, and testified that Pottie had told him he “had to make someone disappear,” shortly before Leard was murdered.
Pottie’s lawyer Nathan Gorham pursued a vigorous cross examination of Johnson, pointing out his previous lies to the police before making his statement about Pottie. Gorham drew attention to Johnson’s previous criminal activities, including use of counterfeit money to steal a dirt bike, selling crack cocaine, and violating his own bail conditions. Gorham painted a picture of a witness who was willing to lie to protect himself, or perhaps gain favour regarding his existing criminal charges.
Before Johnson’s cross-examination concluded last week, Gorham submitted an application for a mistrial, citing three issues, including the reliance on key witnesses with something to gain from cooperating with the prosecution. The mistrial application is rendered moot now that Pottie has pled to a lesser charge. On Tuesday, Gorham said his team had concerns about three Crown witnesses who had all changed their evidence, “when they knew what was in it for them.”
“We know in the academic world and in the judicial experience world that witnesses like that can lead to miscarriages of justice,” said Gorham. “And then the records that were kept with some of the conversations made it so that the effect at the end of the day might have been that the full truth wouldn’t have come out for the jury.”
Discrepancy in agreed facts
On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Maurice Blanchard read a statement of facts into the record which both Pottie and Crown lawyers agreed to be true. That statement differed in a key way from an account agreed to previously by the Crown and Sean Patterson.
In both statements, it was agreed that Leard was shot by Patterson shortly after returning to his own home, but in Patterson’s account, he maintained that another person went on to shot Leard, “two to three times.”
Gorham said he would leave it to crown prosecutors to explain the discrepancy.
“From our perspective, Mr. Pottie has always denied that he shot Mr. Leard even a single time,” said Gorham Tuesday. “We are thankful in this proceeding that we’ve reached the resolution where Mr. Pottie was able to take responsibility for what he did, and the Crown has stepped away from that other allegation, which Mr. Pottie has said from the beginning was false.”
In an email response to CHMA, Blanchard said that when Patterson pled guilty, the Crown gave an overview of what occurred, but not a detailed statement of facts, and that the Crown had promised, “the facts would be elaborated in more detail at the sentencing.”
“I agree the facts can appear to have some differences in comparing both resolutions,” wrote Blanchard. “What we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt comes into play, for both cases. I believe this will be cleared up at the sentence hearings.”
‘Very difficult situation for investigators’
Gorham said that police investigating the murder faced challenges. “The police were presented with a very, very difficult situation where they didn’t know what happened, and the three main people who did know what happened, were not willing to tell the truth,” said Gorham. He referred to the three main Crown witnesses, Sean Patterson, Angel Sears and Amanda Noiles, who were all present, along with Henry Pottie, the day Jamie Leard was killed.
Early in the trial, Gorham had actually objected to the Crown’s opening statement on the grounds that it cited as fact what Patterson, Sears and Noiles had given as evidence, which he said was “the final result of statement after statement after statement of perjury and attempting to obstruct justice.”
“When you have a situation where people are not willing to be honest, and they’re looking to gain something from their role in the investigation,” said Gorham on Tuesday, “it presents a very, very difficult situation for investigators.”
Sentencing and victim impact statements slated for July and September
Both Pottie and Patterson have yet to be sentenced, but defense attorneys and the crown have agreed on joint sentence recommendations for both. Lawyers in the hearing for Sean Patterson did not share their agreement, but for Pottie the recommendation is nine years, including credit for time served before conviction, at a rate of 1.5 days per day held on remand. Gorham told the court that he would also be pursuing additional credit on Pottie’s sentence, in recognition of harsh conditions at the jail where he’s been held.
Pottie will be back in court on September 15 for his sentencing hearing, while Patterson is due back on July 25.
Victim impact statements from Leard’s family and friends will be part of the sentencing hearings for both men.
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