Kelowna Law Courts
(MARSHALL JONES / iNFOnews.ca)
November 13, 2012 - 3:35 PM
Update: 1:29 p.m.
Before a packed courtroom Tuesday morning, the girl accused in the Ashlee Hyatt murder trial tearfully told a B.C. Supreme Court jury that she did not stab 16-year-old Hyatt to death.
The girl, whose name along with the identities of many others at the June 2, 2010 drinking party cannot be named because they were minors at the time, denied having brought the knife in question to the Peachland party.
She said the first time she'd seen the knife was when it was in another girl's right hand immediately after Hyatt collapsed on the ground during a fight. The accused testified that a scuffle broke out involving herself, Hyatt and and unnamed girl
During the scuffle, the accused said, Hyatt collapsed and the unnamed girl was holding the knife.
"I saw (Hyatt) on the ground," the accused said. "I saw (the other girl) holding the knife."
The defendant denied earlier testimony by others who said they saw her holding the knife after Hyatt collapsed. The accused countered that she took the knife from the other girl after having wrestled her to the ground and prying the knife from her hand.
The accused said she fought with the unnamed girl out of self-defence.
"I just wanted her to back off," she said.
It was then, the accused testified, that others at the party saw the knife in her own hand and deduced that she mist have stabbed Hyatt. The accused said she checked on Hyatt before others pushed her away.
In a chaotic scene, party-goers flooded the street from the house to see what had happened. They saw the accused holding the knife, the accused testified, and accused her of the stabbing.
I only wanted to see if she was OK," she said, tears streaming down her face. "everybody was yelling at me, 'You did this; you killed her.' I didn't do anything. There's no way I did this."
The accused said she left the scene for a friend's house because others told her to leave "if you want to live." She spent a short time at the friend's house before she called her mother, who picked her up and took her home.
"Everything was confused," the defendant said. "I don't know what was happening. Eveyrhing was confused."
The accused took issue with testimony by others that she kissed a boy at the party who was not her boyfriend. Instead, she said, the boy came on to her on a couch at the party, flirting with her and touching her leg. The accused said she left the couch with no further physical contact.
Under cross-examination by Crown counsel Murray Kaay before the noon break, the accused said she and other friends had spent the afternoon before the party riding 4x4s and drinking whisky straight out of the bottle. The accused said she was aware that her voice was louder than usual, but that she was in control at the party.
"I was drunk," she testified, "but I've been drunker."
The trial continues this afternoon. Stay with us for details.
Update: 12:37 p.m.
After spending the morning on the witness stand, the girl accused of stabbing and killing 16-year-old Ashlee Hyatt says she never had a knife and didn't stab anyone.
The accused, who cannot be named because she is a minor, said she was involved in a fight involving two other girls and when it was over, Hyatt fell to the ground and she saw another girl with a knife.
InfoTel News reporter John Sleeper is at the Kelowna Law Courts and will file a full report.
News from © iNFOnews, 2012