deadmonton 2006 - stefan william conley - preliminary hearing
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Stefan William Conley, 35, was beaten to death on an Edmonton Transit bus on March 2nd, 2006.
Four young offenders were each charged with manslaughter. A judge warned the teens they could be sentenced as adults if convicted.
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As Edmonton Transit bus Route 74 was winding its way through Mill Woods near Edmonton's Research Park on the evening of March 2nd, 2006 it was carrying up to fifteen passengers and its driver, Merle Ludwig.
When the bus reached 95th Street and 20th Avenue at about 8:55 p.m., four white male passengers, described as ranging in age from sixteen to twenty, swarmed a man at the back of the bus and attacked him. He was beaten until he was left bleeding and not breathing.
Driver Ludwig had told the youths to "quiet down" to which a passenger added "shut up." It was then the four teens attacked the passenger and kicked him repeatedly in the head.
Ludwig pulled the vehicle over and the youths shouted "Sorry about that" before sauntering off the bus heading west toward Gateway Boulevard. The driver had opened the bus doors in accordance with policy and several passengers also disembarked.
An autopsy confirmed that Stefan Conley died of head injuries, suffering a ruptured artery in the brain.
On March 3rd, 2006, after talking with their parents and family lawyers, four teens – three aged 17 and one aged 16 – turned themselves over to police. They each faced a charge of manslaughter.
Their preliminary hearing began December 18th, 2006.
For earlier developments in the case, visit the Last Link Stefan William Conley page.
Preliminary hearings are held to determine whether there is enough evidence for a case to proceed to trial.
Testimony and evidence presented at a preliminary hearing do not reflect on the guilt or innocence of those accused.
The hearing was lead by Crown prosecutor Wade Marke.
Ongoing Developments
- December 18th, 2006 - Preliminary trial begins.
- December 19th, 2006 - Passengers describe the assault on Conley.
- December 20th, 2006 - Bus driver testifies teens apologised after attack.
- December 21st, 2006 - Witness claims she saw Conley spouting blood.
- December 22nd, 2006 - Medical examiner likens injuries to a bar fight on a bus.
- January 2nd, 2007 - Witness says fight started over merits of heavy metal.
- January 3rd, 2007 - More witnesses tell of fight over Metallica.
- January 4th, 2007 - Police officer testifies about violent run-in with Conley.
- January 5th, 2007 - Closing defence arguments suggest charges should be tossed.
- February 1st, 2007 - Peace River trial suggests Conley's fatal injury not so rare.
- February 2nd, 2007 - Judge orders teens to stand trial.
- May 11th, 2007 - Charges dropped.
December 18th, 2006
A scheduled nine-day preliminary hearing before Judge Jack G. Easton for four teens accused in the beating death of Stefan Conley on a city bus got underway.
Lawyers for the teens took the unusual step of not asking for a publication ban because of the way the story was originally pitched to the media.
The four men, who ranged in age from 16 and 17-years-old at the time of the assault, sat in court on the first bench behind their counsel and watched intently.
The quartet were neatly attired in dress shirts and suits and did not speak to each other.
They chatted quietly with family and their lawyers during breaks in the testimony – a sharp contrast to their earlier behaviour in court when high-fives and winks to spectators were the order of the day.
The hearing opened with testimony from a city police detective who demonstrated how photographs were used to help identify possible suspects.
Police Const. Linda Davidson, an expert in blood stain pattern analysis, then testified that she found blood spattered in the back of the bus, on the floor, on and behind a seat, and all the way to the side exit door.
More than 100 tiny projected stains were found on the ceiling.
Davidson said some of the projected stains would have come from "force applied to a wet blood source" up to a metre and a half away. She also told the court blood was found on the clothing of all four teens.
One of the teens shuffled nervously and clenched his jaw as his clothing was discussed.
Global Edmonton contacted Steve Conley, Stefan's father, in Apsley, Ontario. He spoke of the petition calling for tougher penalties for young offenders circulated earlier.
"I'm hoping that the government is paying attention to the will of the people out there because that is what needs to be done."
"This has got to be looked at and not studied to death like governments like doing."
"I'd say all the studying is done. It's time to change the way that they're doing things."
"Security is just lacking everywhere."
About the Youth Criminal Justice Act, Steve Conley offered his views on what message the current legislation sends teens.
"They don't think about anything. They're after the thrill of the moment. And especially knowing that regardless of what the outcome is they have a free ride."
"They should have been thinking and the should be thinking right now that they could be the one who's riding on the bus alone at night."
Global Edmonton spoke to Jodi Mounsef, a friend of Stefan's who recalled hearing the news of his death.
"It's just very sad. I remember just crying to my husband."
Mounsef called for citizens to voice their disatisfaction with the existing legislation governing teen crime.
"I think that everybody's that not involved or not directly connected to these cases has to stand up and speak out and say, 'You know what? We need to do something.' "
Edmonton Transit security was again placed under close scrutiny with Stefan Conley's case back in the public eye.
Mike Derbyshire, a police inspector tasked with overseeing the system's safety, told Global cameras Edmonton Transit had identified problem routes and locations.
Derbyshire announced that in the near future cameras would be installed on city buses.
"We'll be looking at outfitting a number of buses in Edmonton over the next four to six months with five-camera systems."
"They're going to be covert," Derbyshire promised.
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December 19th, 2006
The hearing resumed with testimony from bus passenger Jesse Hawrelluk.
Just before 9:00 p.m. on March 2nd, 2006 when Hawrelluk said he heard a commotion at the back of the bus.
He said four teens had been yelling and swearing. The bus driver told them to stop or get off. They said, "All right."
Hawrelluk, sitting in the middle of the bus, told the court he heard someone say, "Do you wanna go? Do you wanna fight?"
He turned to see the teens pushing and shoving Conley.
"It looked like the four of them were ganging up on the one man," said Hawrelluk, describing how more than five punches were thrown at Conley before he was able to pin one boy against a window.
Hawrelluk said Conley had his hands around the boy's neck.
The boy's friends then yelled at Conley to "leave him alone." One of them punched Conley to get him to stop.
Conley then fell. When he got up again, he was "wobbling a bit," said Hawrelluk.
As the four teens started walking away, Conley grabbed the boy he had pinned earlier by the arm.
That boy turned around and punched Conley on the side of the head.
Hawrelluk said Conley fell between two seats and started choking on his own blood.
Court heard that Conley died within minutes.
Hawrelluk, who described the boy Conley attacked as having yellow underwear peaking out from drooping pants, was not able to identify the attacker in court.
Hawrelluk said he and a young female passenger then rushed to Conley's aid.
The two pulled him out from under the seats and turned him onto his stomach as he was having trouble breathing.
Court also heard from a middle-aged woman who said the four teens were laughing and screaming when she got on the bus with them at Mill Woods Town Centre bus terminal.
The woman decided she and her 12-year-old son would not sit near the quartet, choosing to sit at the front of the bus instead.
During the fight, she heard someone yell, "I got four on me!"
She turned and saw some of the boys kick Conley as he was lying on the floor.
An autopsy had earlier determined Conley died of blunt force trauma to the head.
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December 20th, 2006
The hearing continued with testimony from employees working at a large food store where the four teens headed after Conley was left bleeding to death on a city bus.
The teens arrived in the store shortly before 10:00 p.m. closing time.
Real Canadian Superstore worker Pauline Pandur testified one teen, his left hand dripping blood, nonchalantly asked her for a bandage when he approached the customer service counter.
"He said, 'I hit that guy so many times, man.' "
Pandur said she opened a first-aid kit and gave the bloodied teen some gauze and a bandage. She also stated she smelled an odour of alcohol wafting from the group.
Employee Manandeep Kundi testified that another boy offered the explanation, "We got into a brawl on the bus."
"When he said that, his friend and him started laughing," she said. "They all started laughing."
Court also heard from Route 74 bus driver Merle Ludwig.
He testified the teens were rowdy and swearing when they got on the bus at the transit centre at Mill Woods Town Centre.
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"I had to ask them to watch their language," he said. "They complied."
Minutes later, while looking in his rear view mirror, Ludwig saw a scuffle at the back of the bus where the teens were sitting.
People were standing up and moving, with their arms were flailing about, he said.
Ludwig said he followed Edmonton Transit policy and stopped the bus near 94th Street and 20th Avenue. He opened both doors and radioed for help.
Ludwig said the teens casually got off the bus, with one boy uttering: "Sorry about that."
"It sounded like a legitimate apology," said Ludwig.
He said another teen remarked, "You have to watch your passengers back there."
Passengers then told Ludwig of the seriousness of the attack on Conley.
The teens headed on foot toward the Superstore food outlet at 97th Street and 23rd Avenue.
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December 21st, 2006
The hearing next heard from another passenger from the Route 74 bus.
23-year-old Natalie Osorio testified she was sitting on the bus when she heard a commotion that made her turn around.
She said she saw Conley standing with his hand around the neck of one of four teens at the back of the bus, with the others standing close around him.
“The bus driver said something or he took notice at that time. It was ... still for a moment and then they just started beating him up,” Osorio.
Osorio said the boys were “punching him, kicking him, they were all on top of him and he was on the floor ... they pummelled him down.”
The woman added she thought the youths stomped on Conley's head.
After the attack, the boys “hurried” off the bus and she and another passenger went to Conley's aid, Osorio said.
“I got up and I went to the back to see if he was OK. He wasn't. He was already spouting blood at that point. Blood was coming out of his mouth. I think he was trying to say something.”
She described Conley as being “crushed” between two seats.
“I think he just like crawled over there to get away from them.”
Up to this point in the hearing, not much was heard from the defense counsel for the four teens. That soon changed when Natalie Osorio's testimony was challenged.
Under cross-examination, Natalie Osorio admitted to defence lawyer Ed O'Neill that she may not have been able to see the kicking and stomping she spoke of since she couldn't see Conley's body lying on the floor.
Osorio was so shaken by defence questioning she left the courtroom crying when the hearing broke for lunch.
The woman had earlier told Crown prosecutor Wade Marke that she smelled alcohol on two of the boys as she got on the bus with them at the Mill Woods transit centre.
Osorio said she saw Conley grabbing one boy by the throat but couldn't hear what was being said.
She said all of the teens then punched Conley to the floor of the bus.
"They just started beating him up."
Osorio said she saw fists being swung and heard smacking sounds. However she conceded to O'Neill that she couldn't see where the punches had landed.
She then said she may not have seen the kicking and stomping.
Osorio also admitted under the cross-examination she initially told police five boys were involved in the attack.
Other witnesses at the hearing have testified that four teens got off the bus after the attack.
Two employees at the South Edmonton Common Superstore food outlet testified earlier that four teens had walked up to the customer service counter asking for a bandage.
The hearing also heard from a third Superstore employee, a cashier, who testified that she saw five boys walk into the store. When they were done at the service counter, they went over to her till.
She cashier said she knew four of the teens from high school.
The boy with the bloody hand "told me they had beaten up a guy," she said.
Another boy showed her a bruise on his collar bone. "He said the man they beat up grabbed him."
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December 22nd, 2006
The last day of the preliminary hearing before a Christmas break saw Alberta's chief medical examiner take the stand.
However, it was the sort of expert testimony the Crown would not likely have introduced if it wouldn't have been so conspicuous by its absence.
Dr. Graeme Dowling has worked as a pathologist for over 20 years.
He stated that Stefan Conley died when a vertebral artery, only a millimetre or two wide and located in the base of his brain, suffered a pinhole tear – a rare but not uncommon injury.
Dowling also testified that Conley was drunk, with a blood alcohol level of 0.164 – more than double which defines legal impairment in Alberta.
Those two elements of Dowling's testimony may open a window of opportunity for the defence: their clients may only stand accused of aggravated assault for what amounted to a bar fight on a bus.
Dowling said the injury he believed killed Conley is usually caused by a blow to the face or chin, that either hyperextends the neck backward or rotates the head.
Just one blow, even a slap on the face, can do it with relatively little force, he said.
Though describing the injury as rare, Dowling said his office sees about two to three cases a year.
The twisting blow to Conley's head put a strain on a network of small arteries at the base of his brain.
One of them – the right vertebral artery – tore open, releasing a small amount of blood [possibly no more than a tablespoon] that rapdily collected around Conley's brain stem, between the surface of his brain and the thin membrane that covered his brain.
That small pool of blood grew and caused his brainstem to stop working. Conley would have quickly lost consciousness, his breathing and heartbeat would have stopped and he would have died within minutes, Dowling said.
Conley's official cause of death was listed as a sub arachnoid hemorrhage, Dowling said.
"Eighty to eighty five per cent of cases of sub-arachnoid hemorrhage, we find the person was intoxicated," Dowling said adding that could be because intoxicated people are more likely to get into a fight.
It's possible that since an intoxicated person is more relaxed there is greater movement of the hit when they are hit and that tears one of the two vertebral arteries in the base of the brain, Dowling said.
It's also possible alcohol plays a physiological role because it dilates blood vessels and the walls of dilated blood vessels become thinner.
"The fairest thing to say is that we don't know – these are just theories," said Dowling.
In one notable case he cited, a six-foot-one man died after his five-foot-three wife "bopped him" on the chin with a single punch. As light as it was, that blow caused his head to go back and one of his two tiny vertebral arteries tore.
"That single blow caused his death," Dowling said. "Twenty minutes later he died."
Dowling couldn't say why an artery in Stefan Conley's brain tore and killed him while most people's arteries hold up in similar cases.
Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Laura Stevens, fresh from defending Michael White, Dowling said "We're missing a piece of the puzzle as to why this one dies and the other ones get up and walk home."
Dowling acknowledged the motion he said caused the tear in Conley's brain artery likely happened in hundreds of bar fights a year.
"Most people that witness [the blow] and witness the cause of it would be pretty surprised that death will result."
Stevens asked whether alcoholics might be more vulnerable to having the right vertebral artery rupture.
Dowling replied he didn't know, but he added, "generally the person is intoxicated when the injury occurs."
The autopsy found few significant wounds on Conley's body: no injuries to the skull, no broken bones or ribs, no injuries to any internal organs – other than the brain.
Dowling did find some scrapes on Conley's forearms and a scrape on his thumb, but couldn't say whether those were defensive wounds.
A single punch, Dowling said, would have been all that was required to kill Conley.
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January 2nd, 2007
The preliminary hearing resumed after a break for Christmas.
On the stand was a witness who was 15 at the time of the incident. The teen wasn't among the four youths charged with Conley's murder.
The teen testified the altercation began with an argument over the merits of the rock band Metallica.
One of the four youths was wearing a Metallica toque and had a Metallica tattoo on his shoulder, the witness said.
Conley, sitting in the back of the bus, butted into the discussion with his two cents about Metallica. The witness said Conley told them, "You guys don't know metal. Metallica is nothing."
The 15-year-old stated Conley got angry when one of the youths undid his belt and a top pants button in a silent invitation to perform fellatio on him.
Conley got up and grabbed the youth by the jacket at his chest. The youth yelled at him, telling him to get away.
The three other teens jumped up and began punching Conley, yelling: “Leave him alone” and "Get off him! Get off him!"
The punches were "hard punches - giving it all they got" the witness said and figured Conley was punched between five and 10 times in the face.
The 15-year-old testified the attack on Conley lasted about 10 seconds and the three youths stopped punching him once he let go of their friend.
The witness said Conley appeared dazed but was still standing when the punching stopped.
With his glasses now knocked off, Conley had blood coming from his mouth. He was wobbling and his eyes were looking upward, said the witness.
The four youths got off the bus but one stopped to shove Conley with both hands against his chest as he left, court heard.
The 15-year-old testified Conley fell backwards, striking the back of his head on the edge of the bus seat and sliding sideways onto the floor.
The teenager said he heard a crunching, squishy sound when Conley hit his head. He then started making a loud snoring sound.
The teen told defence lawyer Ed O'Neill the four teens punched Conley but at no time kicked him or stomped on his head.
The teen said he got off the bus immediately after the other teens did, going with a friend to South Edmonton Common.
The witness couldn't say which boy gave the final shove.
But a second witness, a 16-year-old girl who was also at the back of the bus with a female friend, pointed out the boy seated in the courtroom who she said gave the final push.
Her account of the argument and fight was almost the same as that of the first witness.
The girl said that after insults were traded, she heard one of the accused, who was sitting across the aisle from Conley, tell him "he should give him oral sex" as he undid his belt buckle.
"That's when the victim got mad. [Conley] stood up and grabbed him by the front of the shirt and leaned over him," the teen testified.
She said Conley called the teen "a punk kid" and told him to shut his mouth, and as Conley grabbed the boy, he said, "I got four punk kids on me."
The girl also testified the punching stopped once Conley let go of the boy and she never saw any of the accused kick him or stomp on him.
As the four teens got off the bus, the last teenager to exit stopped and gave Conley, who was dazed and standing facing the front of the bus, a shove.
"He fell straight backwards and hit his head on the edge of the seat."
The girl said just before he was shoved, it looked like Conley was reaching for a pole as if trying to steady himself.
Both witnesses said they were shocked to hear that Conley had died from the beating.
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January 3rd, 2007
A third eyewitness, another 16-year-old girl, took the stand and offered testimony that differed somewhat than that presented by the two previous teens.
The witness said she was at the back of the bus along with Conley and four boys as the bus headed west from Mill Woods. The girl said a dispute broke out between Conley and the four boys about the heavy metal band Metallica.
One of the boys, who she called “Metallica guy” in a statement to cops, had a Metallica tattoo on his arm that he revealed to Conley by pushing up the sleeve of his sweater.
“The victim was saying he went to one of [Metallica's] concerts and he was more of a fan [than the teens] because he was there when they were around, and now they don't tour.”
Conley suddenly got angry, went over to one of the seated teens and punched him, the girl said.
Her version conflicted with those of two previous witnesses who testified Conley grabbed the teen by the collar area of his jacket but threw no punches.
She said Conley was aiming for a second punch when the boy and his three friends fought back, throwing their own punches to defend themselves.
After the fight, Conley, who was bleeding heavily from the mouth and looked “out of it,” reached out for the last of the boys to grab or hit him and the boy pushed him away with both hands, said the witness, adding it wasn't a hard push.
"[Conley] staggered back a couple of steps and then hit his head," she said.
Conley toppled backwards to the floor, bashing the back of his head head on a seat. His head bounced once, and then he fell back to the floor and didn't move again, she said.
The girl, her friend and two boys got off the bus and walked to South Edmonton Common. The girl said the four boys involved in the fight walked away across a field.
The girl's evidence about the final push conflicted with that of her 16-year-old friend, who on the previous testified that Conley appeared to be blindly grabbing for a pole to catch his balance when the boy shoved him backwards.
Defence lawyer Ed O'Neill told the court he planned to call a witness to testify about Conley's alleged propensity for violence, specifically about an incident that happened one week before his March 2nd death.
O'Neill planned to call a police officer to testify but Judge Jack Easton had yet to rule on whether he would consider the evidence.
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January 4th, 2007
When the hearing resumed, the defence did its best to portray Stefan Conley as a violent man, going so far as to suggest he was a 'ticking time bomb.'
That provincial court Judge Jack Easton allowed the defence to call evidence was a rare move in a preliminary hearing, but Easton ruled a police officer's testimony was relevant to the case.
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Called to the stand was Const. Maurice Brodeur. The officer testified he attended to a noise dispute on February 26th, 2006 – six days before Conley died.
When Brodeur arrived at Conley's apartment at 10505 80 Avenue at about 1:45 a.m., he was met by the man who was frantically waving around a chrome tire iron.
After letting police in, Conley ran up the stairs yelling that he was fed up and couldn't deal with this anymore.
Brodeur said Conley talked about being frustrated with “the youth of today.”
Conley said he loved music, but the teen living in the suite below his apartment was playing music he didn't like and he didn't have to listen to it.
“He was very volatile, very irate,” Brodeur told the court. “He was in a rage.”
The tenants below later told police they were concerned for their personal safety, and that Conley had earlier poked one of them in the stomach.
Brodeur told the court the teen renting the suite had six friends over to play Nintendo video games that night. They admitted they had been smoking marijuana. While scared of Conley, they didn't want him charged.
Brodeur said he tried to talk to Conley but the man ranted for several minutes.
"He needed to talk about this – I could not get a word in," Brodeur said.
“He was very irate, raging about the noise, how [police] don't do anything about it, how he was going to handle it himself,” said Brodeur. “He did not have the ability to hear. He was in a zone of rage.”
When Conley calmed down, Brodeur said he warned him: “You have to be careful these days.”
He told Conley the seven teens could have attacked him in self-defence, and he could have been charged with assault with a weapon.
Defence lawyer Kent Teskey asked Brodeur if Conley was a “ticking time-bomb” who couldn't control his rage. The officer agreed saying, "Yeah. Yeah."
Brodeur said he was so concerned about Conley's behaviour that he promised to later return when he could to sit down with both parties to help them resolve their differences.
Before Brodeur had time to return to the apartment building, he read in a newspaper that Conley died during a fight with other teens on March 2nd.
Brodeur also testified Conley was sober when he investigated the noise complaint.
Evidence at the hearing wrapped up and the Crown gave its final argument, saying Conley died because he was attacked.
On the day Const. Brodeur gave his testimony, Global Edmonton sought out opinion of Stefan Conley from those who worked with him.
The station said those who knew Conley as 'Wil' said he was not a dangerous man. They featured an interview with Conley's boss at Steelhead Industries, Dan Gregorwich.
"As much as I know Wil, you'd have to provoke that person to get him to be aggressive."
"Short of that, maybe not the best communicator in the world."
"He just wouldn't flare off the handle for no reason. I've never seen him exhibit any violence – ever."
"When it comes to moral decisions – you know, things are goofy – I think he would stand up – yeah, I do."
"He would probably stand up for what he thought was right."
Gregorwich said it felt it was unfair his friend was able to defend himself against the allegations made in court.
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January 5th, 2007
The preliminary hearing wrapped up with arguments from four defence lawyers that the charges should be tossed.
The manslaughter charges against four teenagers charged in the death of Stefan Conley should be thrown out because they were defending themselves against an aggressor who threw the first punch, court was told.
Defence lawyer Peter Royal suggested to Provincial Court Judge Jack Easton this was a rare case where discharges are warranted because the evidence showed “Conley was the aggressor on that day.”
“It was Mr. Conley who initiated the incident by grabbing one of the youths and [the youth's] three friends came to his defence in a brief assault.”
“There was nothing unlawful in what these boys did to secure the release of their chum,” Royal said.
Defence lawyer Laura Stevens said there was no question police had to lay manslaughter charges after they were erroneously told Conley was the victim of an unprovoked and brutal attack by rowdy teenagers. The evidence does not support the charges, she said.
The injury that led to Conley's death was not the result of a lethal blow, but a freakish occurrence, Stevens added.
“This incident, 999 times out of 1,000, should have resulted in a broken tooth, or a bloodied mouth or nose ... the medical community has no explanation, but [fights] happen everyday in this community and people do not die,” she said.
Stevens added the four youths deeply regret Conley's death, but the victim did start the fight by butting into a conservation he wasn't part of, and then throwing the first punch.
“These young people's lives are on hold. This is a life changing event for them,” she said, as she asked for all charges to be thrown out.
Judge Jack Easton reserved his decision until February 2nd, 2007.
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February 1st, 2007
Just as four teens were waiting for Judge Jack Easton's decision, news from a Peace River courthouse suggested Stefan Conley's unusual fatal injury was not so rare.
Christopher Sean Pappas, 37, was charged with manslaughter in the death of 21-year-old Mark Hinchey. It was alleged that Hinchey died after Pappas hit him with a single punch on February 21st, 2004 outside the Moon Saloon.
Testifying via video link from Edmonton, Alberta's deputy chief medical examiner Dr. Bernard Bannach told the Peace River court the injury that killed Hinchey was so lethal that even if it happened in a hospital parking lot with a neurosurgeon standing close by, he would have died.
"There is basically no medical treatment available that can be implemented fast enough," Bannach said.
He said Hinchey died when an artery about three millimetres in size on the left side of the back of his skull was torn. Bannach said he's seen the injury only seven times out of more than 4,500 autopsies.
Bannach testified such a tear is usually caused when someone's head is snapped and rotated backward in a violent fashion. An unexpected punch, he added, could have caused the injury. Such an injury, he said, usually happens in someone who has been drinking alcohol.
Witnesses had previously testified Hinchey had consumed several drinks that night, but was not visibly drunk.
A jury deliberated just over an hour before finding Pappas guilty of manslaughter. It was the second trial for Pappas after a mistrial was declared in May 2005 when the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
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February 2nd, 2007
Judge Jack Easton ruled that four teenagers would stand trial on manslaughter charges in connection with the beating death of Stefan Conley.
Easton said Conley was obviously the physical aggressor on the bus that night and that there was “absolutely no doubt” that Conley initiated the incident.
However, it will be up to a jury to decide whether the teens used too much force when they punched Conley after he attacked one of them, Easton ruled.
Easton described the hearing as a screening process, to see if there was enough evidence for a trial to consider, and to help the youths' lawyers prepare a defence. He ruled there was enough evidence.
“I am not entitled to weigh the evidence or consider the credibility of the witnesses,” he said. That that will be up to a judge or jury, he added.
The teens were to appear next in court on March 16th, 2007 for arraignment. In the meantime, their bail conditions were relaxed.
Judge Easton granted a defence request to delete the bail condition that ordered the teens to stay off all Edmonton Transit property.
The four now had a curfew of midnight instead of 9 p.m. and could start riding public transit again, something they weren't allowed to do under the original bail conditions.
Easton also eased their requirements for reporting to probation officers. A ban prevented publication of the reasons.
Defence lawyer Laura Stevens said the condition that banned the teens from riding buses or the LRT has caused major hardship since it was forced on them March 15th, 2006.
She said her client, now 18, lives on the “absolute edge” of Edmonton and has to walk or bike to get anywhere.
“Without being able to ride the bus he has no realistic expectation of employment.”
Laurie Trahan, another defence lawyer, said the condition may have eased some public outrage over the bus beating at the time of the incident but is no longer necessary.
“You may recall at the time we had petitions, we had grandmothers up in arms [over the release of the teens on bail],” said Trahan.
“With all due respect to them ... these four young people are not a danger to the community at large and they're certainly not a danger to anyone riding Edmonton Transit.”
One of the teens, now 18, was expecting a baby with his girlfriend and may want to get a place with her, court was told.
Among conditions earlier conditions that remained in place, the youths could not associate with each other and they were banned from J. Percy Page High School, where they were students.
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May 11th, 2007
It was a decision no one saw coming.
In a move that surprised everyone, Chief Crown prosecutor Bart Rosborough asked a judge in front of a packed courtroom to dismiss manslaughter charges against the four teens charged in the beating death of Stefan Conley.
Rosborough told court there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction in the case and said he was confident a judge or jury would find the teens acted in self defence.
After the charges were dismissed, the four youths dressed neatly in suits spilled out of the courtroom with big smiles and began hugging their lawyers, each other and their families.
Outside court, Edmonton's top prosecutor faced a media scrum as he read from a prepared statement.
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"After a thorough review by several members of the Edmonton Crown Prosecutors' Office, we have decided to cease the prosecution of the four youths accused in the tragic death of Stefan Conley on an ETS bus last year."
"We have concluded that based on the evidence presented at the preliminary inquiry in this case, there is no reasonable likelihood of the young persons being convicted of manslaughter. We are confident that on the evidence, a judge or jury would find that the four accused young people acted in self defence."
"We know this may be difficult to hear for the family and friends of the deceased. However, virtually every eyewitness confirms that the deceased was the first to act by grabbing one of the youths by the neck. Force was then used by the youths to free their friend from the grip of the deceased. Witnesses also testified that blows stopped once the youth was out of the grasp of the deceased."
"Unfortunately, these details could not be established from the original witness statements taken by police soon after Mr. Conley's death. It only became clear what had actually taken place when these statements were fleshed out in court during witness testimony at the preliminary inquiry."
"It is also worth noting that original reports – that led to a vehement public response – appear to be inaccurate based on the testimony given at the preliminary inquiry. The original reports suggested the youths had swarmed and ruthlessly beat the deceased after little provocation. The evidence did not bear this out at all."
"In fact, while there is no doubt the youths hit the deceased, the force used was allowed by law since it was applied for the purpose of defending their friend. Once again, the evidence suggests the blows stopped once the youth was released from the grip of the deceased. The evidence shows that the force used by the accused was no more than was necessary for the purposes of self defence. In ordinary circumstances, the deceased likely would not have suffered bodily harm. Unfortunately, the force used by the youths caused a rare type of hemorrhage which in turn led to the death of Mr. Conley."
"To us, this case offers a clear example of the dangers of rushing to judgment before the justice system's process has been completed, and why that process is important. The justice system is often complex and sometimes difficult for the general public to understand. But the system has at its heart the principle that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Its stringent procedures and rules are designed to help ensure that innocent people are not tried for crimes they did not commit."
"Before we close, we would like to offer our sympathies to the family of Stefan Conley. His death was tragic and undeserved. Fist fights and scuffles occur far too frequently. Thankfully, most don't lead to the loss of life. This one did. Our hope now is that the community responds not by further blame but rather by learning from this incident that violence is not an appropriate way to settle a dispute."
Rosborough refused to comment on whether the teens could seek compensation from the province for their arrest and prosecution.
Numerous Edmonton media outlets contacted Stefan Conley's stepfather Steve at his home in Apsley, Ontario.
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The 54-year-old felt it should have been up to a trial judge and jury to make the decision of whether the teens were criminally responsible for his son's death.
“I'm just so damned disappointed the four people that have the answers haven't been questioned and now they won't be,” Conley said.
“An awful lot of unanswered questions can't be answered because a lot of people with the answers can't be questioned.”
"Was he being threatened and that was his defensive move? There are just an awful lot of unanswered questions here."
"I hope that they do realise that in some way they are responsible for the death of another human being," Conley said of the teens.
The Ontario man said he wasn't sure what his next move was going to be, but he vowed he wasn't going to let the matter drop easily.
“I'm going to try to do my best to find out what happened,” added Conley, who said he was notified of the decision two days prior the the announcement in court.
“I'm going to do a little investigating of my own.”
Steve Conley said the circumstances of his son's death and the resulting aftermath have rocked his family.
"This is sort of like being on an elevator with the cables cut," adding the Crown's decision was "kind of hard to swallow."
"We'll hold his name and memory high in our family and that's what we can do."
"It's discouraging this is the finding after the judge at the preliminary inquiry said there was more than enough evidence to go to trial."
Conley wondered if there would have been a different outcome had police immediately responded to the scene and interviewed the witnesses and suspects at the time.
It was earlier reported police took 25 minutes to arrive and that several witnesses were not spoken to for days.
Friends of Stefan's said they were shocked by the decision.
“Everybody's in disbelief,” said 41-year-old friend Arnie Saathof.
“We were hoping they'd get at least a slap on the wrist. Nobody figured these kids were going to go to jail for 20 years, but to get absolutely nothing is absolutely a joke.”
"How much is a life worth?
“Since when is four-on-one self defence?” Saathof asked. “How can the group of four claim self-defence against one single person?”
"I think it's very dangerous for the courts to do things like this and let them walk away because people are going to take justice into their owns hands if the courts won't do it for them."
Defence lawyer Laura Stevens said the case had been tough on the teens, who were 16 and 17 at the time of Conley's death.
"They were at the centre of such a city-wide hurricane," she said. "It was a very frightening feeling for someone that age."
While she expressed sympathy for Conley's family, the man's death was also "a monumental life-altering event" for her client.
"He will never, ever forget or get over the fact that he was in any way involved in someone's death."
"The horror of having an allegation like this outstanding – the fact that this happened has permanently changed their lives."
"Mr. Conley's death was a tragic occurence. It was a bit of a freak occurence ... and he was not beaten by anybody."
Stevens commended Rosborough for asking to have the charges dismissed rather than have the youths go to trial.
"A trial possibly wouldn't have taken place until next year and this would have been hanging over their heads," she said.
"It was quite courageous of the Crown to make this decision."
Stevens spoke of her client and the impact of the decision.
"It feels to him like he has his life back. And for his mom, I mean, it's like her life can start again."
Defence lawyer Peter Royal said the two weeks his client spent in custody awaiting bail was unpleasant but compensation was not a question.
"It would be only something you could seek in the context of a malicious prosecution," Royal said.
"I don't think for a minute there was any suggestion this was a malicious prosecution."
Royal and the other lawyers representing the teens took the unusual step of not asking for a publication ban on the evidence given at the two-week preliminary hearing.
"I think it was important that the public have the ability to see this case as it was reported," Royal explained.
"The weaknesses in the case were very apparent and they were publicised."
University of Alberta Faculty of Law professor Sanjeev Anand guessed other prosecutors likely might have let the case go to trial.
"The easiest thing in the world for him to have done with this political football is let a jury decide, but he did the right thing," he said of Rosborough.
Anand said Albertans should be thanking the Chief Crown prosecutor for saving the taxpayers' money.
However, according to one sampling of how taxpayers felt, confidence in the justice system remained low.
An Edmonton Sun news poll put the following statement to Edmontonians: "Manslaughter charges against four teens involved in the bus-beating death of Stefan Conley were dropped. Has justice been served?"
52% said "I've given up on the justice system," 34% responded "No. It's disgraceful," while 14% agreed with the decision saying "Yes. Check the facts.
1186 voted on the one-day voluntary poll which allowed only one response per computer.
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This page updated
03:09 2007-05-14.