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Boushie family petitioning for out-of-province prosecutor, investigator

Oct 25, 2016 | 4:42 PM

A petition for Colten Boushie is gaining support and signatures across the country.

The petition requests an out-of-province prosecutor and investigator be assigned to Gerald Stanley’s case; the man accused in Boushie’s death.

Skyler Brown, a cousin of Boushie’s, said impartiality is needed.

“The investigation and judicial proceedings have been handled inadequately and we would like an outside perspective to the case,” he said. “We’re just trying to get this out there because we can’t let it go unnoticed.”

Brown is collecting signatures for the petition in the Battlefords and area, in the hopes of finding justice for his cousin.

“He was my best friend, he was my first cousin, my brother and it tears me apart not having him every day, knowing that Gerald Stanley gets to spend holidays with his family and we never get to see my brother again,” he said.

The petition is gaining support across Canada, distributed in cities and towns from Calgary to Ottawa.

Brown said the group is working on an online version of the petition, but until then supporters can connect on Facebook under the group “Justice for Colten Boushie.”

The group is collecting signatures until Oct. 31, which would have been Boushie’s 23rd birthday. The petition will then be brought to the Saskatchewan Minister of Justice and Attorney General Gordon Wyant and RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.

Boushie was shot and killed after he and four friends drove onto Stanley’s farm in August. Stanley was charged with second-degree murder.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, after the initial media release, accused the RCMP of bias claiming the wording implied Stanley was justified in shooting Boushie.

Chris Murphy, a Toronto lawyer hired by Boushie’s family, said RCMP mishandling of key evidence could jeopardize Stanley’s murder trial.

 

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.