MANSLAUGHTER OR MURDER

Judge Says Walker Guilty; Jury Must Pick Crime

YORKTON -- The jury charged with deciding the fate of a Yorkton man
charged with first-degree murder broke off deliberations after nine
hours Wednesday without a verdict.

Kim Walker, who could face life in prison for shooting and killing
his daughter's drug dealer boyfriend, said his family was "blessed"
whatever the jury's verdict because she is alive.

But the grieving mother of James Hayward, who was 24 when he was shot
to death by Walker nearly four years ago, said Walker had robbed her
of her son.

Earlier in the day, Justice Jennifer Pritchard directed the jury to
find Walker guilty of at least manslaughter in the March 17, 2003,
death of Hayward.

In a prepared statement with his family -- including his daughter,
Jadah -- by his side, Walker told reporters that he had received
support from the Yorkton area and throughout the country as the trial
attracted national attention.

"Our daughter is alive," said Walker, a welder and father of three,
who has no criminal record.

"She's worth everything we've been through," added Walker's wife, Elizabeth.

But Hayward's mother, Lorrie Getty, said because she had been told
not to speak to the media, the public had not been well-informed
about her son and a sensational picture had been painted through the
seven-day Court of Queen's Bench trial.

"He was a good person," she said in front of the courthouse.

"Because no one told me that James was using morphine . . . I was
never given the opportunity to save my son."

Walker has admitted to causing the death of Hayward but has testified
he did not intend to kill him.

In her instructions to the jury, Pritchard told the panel that there
was no evidence that Walker's shooting of Hayward was lawful.

That means the eight-woman, four-man jury must decide whether Walker
was guilty of manslaughter, where there was no intent to kill, or
first-degree or second-degree murder, said the judge.

"Manslaughter is the minimum offence in this case," Pritchard said.

To convict Walker of murder, the jury must consider if Walker had the
"state of mind" required for murder -- whether he meant to cause
death or bodily harm likely to cause death, said the judge.

A verdict of first-degree murder requires the jury finding beyond a
reasonable doubt that Walker's killing of Hayward was planned and
deliberate, said Pritchard.

Defence lawyer Morris Bodnar told reporters he was not surprised by
Pritchard's instructions not to acquit, given that she had earlier in
the trial not allowed Walker to claim self-defence.

"If the jury came back with manslaughter my client would be happy," he said.

There is much at stake in how the jury decides on the three possible charges.

Sentencing will be imposed by Pritchard.

But first-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life
imprisonment, with the first eligibility for parole in 25 years.
Second-degree murder also carries mandatory life imprisonment but the
judge can set eligibility for parole between 10 and 25 years.

Sentencing for manslaughter is determined by the judge but
manslaughter using a firearm requires a mandatory minimum sentence of
four years imprisonment.

The defence has contended that Walker was a concerned father trying
to rescue his then 16-year-old daughter from a drug addiction that
was threatening to kill her after she had left the family home and
moved in with Hayward.

After months of increasing concern over her behavior and health,
Walker and his wife received an anonymous letter in March of 2003
saying that Jadah and Hayward were injecting morphine.

On the advice of the RCMP, they sought and received from a provincial
court judge a Mental Health Act warrant committing Jadah to Yorkton
hospital's psychiatric ward for a weekend assessment of her drug problem.

On the Monday Jadah was released, friends picked her up from her
parents' home and reunited her with Hayward.

The court has heard that Walker then went to Hayward's home with a
Luger M80 semi-automatic pistol. After asking a resistant Jadah to
come home, he shot Hayward in front of his daughter.

Hayward, a one-time award-winning bodybuilder, bled to death from
five gunshot wounds, including one in the back at close range.

Walker had testified he does not remember the shooting beyond
"flashes" such as Hayward coming toward him with a look of hatred on his face.

Pritchard told the jury that they should consider Walker's condition
and conduct as they mulled over whether it was murder.

She noted that in the testimony of four witnesses who were in the
house at the time of the shooting, no one said that Walker brandished
the gun as leverage to get Jadah out.

Rather, they were consistent in their testimony that Walker, who
testified he does not remember the shooting, pulled his gun and fired
his pistol rapidly, she said.

That may lead the jury to conclude that Walker "meant to solve his
problem" and kill Hayward, said Pritchard, or the jury could see it
differently.

The court has heard that Hayward sold marijuana and was a user of morphine.

He had four drug-related convictions and had served seven months in
jail for trafficking.

Pritchard said the criminal record may be relevant to the case but
cautioned the jury in considering that evidence.

"It is improper for you to use this evidence to conclude James
Hayward's bad character in any way justifies or excuses his death," she said.

Pritchard also spoke of one witness's contention that Walker had said
four days before the shooting that if he didn't have a family he
would "love to blow James' head off." She also pointed out that
Walker has denied he made that statement.

The jury deliberated for nearly six hours before taking a supper
break just before 6 p.m. The jury returned at 7:30 p.m. and continued
until 9 p.m.

The panel asked one question during that period about what was meant
by a "state of mind" required for murder and whether it meant he did
not know what he was doing.

Pritchard told the jury that if Walker did not know what he was doing
there was not the intent to murder. But she said not knowing what one
is doing and not remembering what one did are entirely different matters.

The jury will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

Jadah Walker has sat with her family in the final days of the trial
when it became clear she would not be called as a Crown or defence witness.

Bodnar told reporters that Jadah quit using drugs a year after the
shooting and has a good relationship with her father.