Colten Boushie Case Brief Essay

When we first learned about the death of a 22 year old Indigenous man, it was presented to us as a racial killing. However, as we acquired more knowledge about the case, it became clear that it was more complicated than we had initially thought. Without doing any personal research on the incident, it was easy to believe the hearsay that surrounded the case. Even though Gerald Stanley claimed self defense, Colten Boushie's death was unwarranted. Gerald was acquitted as a result of as you dive into the case, there is more than meets the eye, Gerald Stanley had a smart defense team, and society played a role in the ruling.
On August 9th, 2016, according to CBC, the death of Colten Boushie occured on a farm near Battleford, Saskatchewan, which

Before the fatal incident occurred, Colten Boushie, alongside Eric Meechance, Cassidy Cross-Whitstone, Belinda Jackson, and Kiora Wuttunee had been drinking and stealing from surrounding farms. The SUV had gotten a flat tire and the muffler was dragging, so Cross-Whitstone drove onto Stanley’s property initially seeking help. Meechance left the vehicle and got onto an ATV before Gerald’s son, Sheldon, broke the windshield with a framing hammer. Cross-whitstone tried to flee the scene but hit Gerald’s wife, Leesa’s, SUV instead and Sheldon then ran back to the house intending to grab his truck keys to chase them off. Meanwhile, Gerald grabbed his Tokarev semi-automatic pistol from his shop and fired 2 warning shots into the air. Subsequently, Meechance and Cross-Whitstone abandoned the SUV and took off down the driveway. Colten, who had initially been in the backseat, later moved to the driver's side in an attempt to make an escape after Meechance and Cross-Whitstone deserted the vehicle. However, the SUV would not move; Gerald then approached the vehicle where he experienced his gun creating a delay in

All witnesses agree that Meechance was messing around with an ATV and Cross-Whitstone had attempted to steal a truck. Both parties also agree that Sheldon smashed the windshield and Gerald kicked in a taillight on the SUV. Some witnesses claim they heard 2 shots while others claim they heard 3. Cross-Whitstone had later changed his testimony to that he had 30 shots of alcohol and admitted that the group had been stealing. Cross-Whitstone also confessed that he had tried to break into a truck on another property with the .22-calibre rifle. When Cross-Whitstone was first questioned by the RCMP, he stated that he had heard 2 shots, one sounding like it had ricocheted and the other whizzing past his ear. He later changed his statement, admitting that the shots sounded like a warning. Another witness who was proven to be inconsistent was Jackson when she stated that Boushie was shot in the passenger seat by a woman, but failed to stick to that statement in further questioning. She also admitted that the consumption of alcohol made her memory distorted and that she had not been completely