Lawyers give final arguments in trial for man accused of participating in vigilante justice

Crown and defence lawyers gave closing arguments Thursday to jurors, who are now tasked with deciding whether a McAdam man participated in a vigilante-motivated beating of another man in the southwestern New Brunswick village, nearly two years ago.

Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Hutchin said the evidence, including a shotgun shell found in Dwain Gardner's garage, and testimony by the victim, Blake Scott, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gardner pointed a shotgun at him and helped beat him up.

But according to Nathan Gorham, Gardner's lawyer, Scott lied about Gardner participating in his assault and completely fabricated a story about Gardner pointing a shotgun at him.

"My submission to you is Blake Scott is utterly dishonest," said Gorham, speaking to 12 jurors at the Burton courthouse.

The closing arguments came a day after the end of Gardner's trial on charges that he assaulted, unlawfully confined and pointed a sawed-off shotgun at Scott.

Gardner was also charged with possessing a shotgun for the purpose of committing an offence.

The three-day trial centred around the events leading up to and during the assault of Scott, which has been framed as an instance of vigilante justice.

The trial heard testimony from Scott, Gardner, and Billy McGillicuddy, who was co-accused alongside Gardner and later pleaded guilty to unlawfully confining and assaulting Scott with a weapon.

Billy McGillicuddy testified Tuesday that Dwain Gardner had no shotgun in his possession and took no part in the assault of Blake Scott on June 4, 2022. (Aidan Cox/CBC)

Jurors heard McGillicuddy became angry after learning Scott approached his 10-year-old daughter while she was walking through a pedestrian tunnel in the community.

Later that day, McGillicuddy came across Scott outside a home, where he hit him in the leg with a baseball bat.

That same evening, Scott contacted Gardner in hopes of smoothing over issues with McGillicuddy and testified that when he arrived at Gardner's garage, Gardner pointed a shotgun at him. He said McGillicuddy showed up minutes later and beat him up, with the assistance of Gardner.

Scott said he was then ordered to strip naked and walk out to McGillicuddy's truck, but managed to flee on foot to the nearby home of a family friend.

Jurors also saw evidence entered as exhibits, including an unspent shotgun shell police found in Gardner's garage, which matches the type of shotgun Scott alleges was pointed at him.

Other evidence included the clothes and shoes Scott said he was ordered to strip out of, as well as his cellphone, which he said he'd left in Gardner's garage following his beating.

Contradictory accounts of incident

With the testimony heard at trial, jurors are now left to decide which version of events to believe — that of Scott's, or Gardner and McGillicuddy's.

Scott's testimony was the primary evidence that Gardner pointed a gun at him and assaulted him, while both Gardner and McGillicuddy testified neither of those things happened.

Crown prosecutors presented photos of an unspent shotgun shell they say police officers found in Gardner's garage following Scott's report of being assaulted and having a shotgun pointed at him. (New Brunswick Court of King's Bench)

On Thursday, Gorham argued Scott wasn't a credible witness, bringing up Scott's lengthy past criminal record for convictions, including break and enter, fraud and sexual assault.

He also pointed out how, while on the stand, Scott attempted to avoid answering questions about his sexual assault conviction from last year.

Gorham also brought up the question of whether Scott's past crystal meth use might have impacted his memory of the assault, and he also threw out the theory that the shotgun shell found in Gardner's garage had actually belonged to Scott.

Gorham also presented an excerpt of the transcript of Scott's 911 call right after the incident and noted how he made no mention of a shotgun to the dispatcher, or that Gardner specifically assaulted him.

[The Crown prosecutors] are not within a country mile of proving something beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence of Blake Scott," Gorham said.

In response, Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Hutchin maintained that Scott's version of events was the accurate one, and that Gardner had been motivated by a desire for revenge for Scott approaching McGillicuddy's daughter.

Hutchin said Gardner knew Scott wanted to talk to him one-on-one to smooth things over, but instead invited McGillicuddy to his garage as well, unbeknownst to Scott.

"Blake Scott's testimony was that Dwain Gardner set him up, pointed a firearm at him and helped Billy McGillicuddy wrestle him to the ground," Hutchin said.

"Dwain Gardner never intervened, never offered Blake Scott his clothes or phone back, even though he said Blake Scott had been almost like family."

After closing arguments, Justice E. Thomas Christie began giving his final instructions to the jurors.

He's expected to finish doing so on Friday morning, before ordering they be sequestered to deliberate on a verdict.