A key Crown witness in an Ottawa murder case testified Monday she was pressured by the Crown to stick to her original drunken statement to detectives under threat of prosecution for lying to police if she changed it once sober.
Jessica Walker said she had been drinking for three days straight and running on little sleep when she was called to Ottawa police headquarters in 2018 for an interview with veteran Det. Kevin Jacobs in the murder case against Tristan Campbell.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Days later and sober, Walker testified, she tried to change her story because she wanted to tell the truth, but a police detective, after talking to a prosecutor, said it was impossible and would be bad for the case. The public-housing neighbourhood in Ottawa’s south end has a history of loud arguments. But on May 27, 2018, this feud among neighbours ended in gunfire.Article content
The case is not a whodunnit. Campbell, 39, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and admits he shot and killed at the doomed barbecue after being confronted, spat on and subjected to repeated racial slurs. In a cross-examination of the Crown witness from defence lawyer Mark Ertel, Walker said she didn’t hear from the Ottawa police until she was summoned to a prep meeting for the trial. Walker showed up at the Dec. 6, 2022 meeting at the Ottawa courthouse.
Walker testified that the Crown told her it would be very wrong to lie under oath and recommended she get a lawyer.Article content
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