Defence asks jury to disregard video evidence in trial of man accused of killing Pat Stay

Preston Mulligan · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 2:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 16

The defence presented its closing arguments Monday greeting successful the second-degree execution proceedings of Adam Drake.

Drake, 34, is accused of fatally stabbing Pat Stay successful a Halifax barroom successful the aboriginal hours of Sept. 4, 2022.

The Crown's cardinal portion of grounds is video surveillance from wrong the Yacht Club Social the nighttime the Dartmouth conflict rapper was stabbed. It shows Stay with his backmost to the camera getting into an altercation with someone. He turns around, brushes what appears to beryllium humor from his thorax and is past punched. He stumbles to the floor, gets backmost up and walks retired of the camera's view.

Defence lawyer Michael Lacy spent astir of Monday greeting urging the Nova Scotia Supreme Court assemblage to disregard the video evidence.

Lacy, who didn't taxable immoderate grounds during the trial, besides urged the jurors to disregard a Facebook station Drake made a mates of weeks anterior to Stay's death in which helium wrote "can't hold to springiness you a large hug." Lacy said the station says thing astir what happened wrong the club the nighttime Stay was stabbed.

Lacy showed video of Drake extracurricular a adjacent edifice successful the hours aft Stay's death, pointing out Drake was wearing the aforesaid apparel helium wore while he was astatine the Yacht Club Social. That, the defence lawyer said, was not the behaviour of a blameworthy man.

The proceedings astatine a Dartmouth courthouse has been emotionally charged. On Monday morning, sheriffs had to reprimand members of the visitors' assemblage for making large comments during the defence's closing arguments.  

After Lacy had finished his arguments precocious successful the morning and was attempting to permission the parking lot, his path was blocked by a antheral connected a motorcycle. Several sheriffs urged the motorcyclist to get retired of the mode — one adjacent suggesting he'd beryllium arrested if helium didn't determination his bike.

The antheral eventually complied and past followed Lacy's SUV arsenic helium pulled retired of the parking batch of the Mellor Avenue courthouse.

The Crown presented its closing arguments connected Friday. It's expected Justice Scott Norton volition present instructions to the assemblage connected Tuesday.