Veltman jury on 'standby': Evidence concludes in Windsor, Ont. terror trial

Lawyers for Nathaniel Veltman concluded their case Monday afternoon and the Crown did not call any new evidence.

As a result, the jury of 13 people was sent home and asked to be on standby until Friday at the earliest.

“We are conscious of the fact the trial is already a little bit over the eight-week estimate we provided at the outset [of the trial],” Justice Renee Pomerance said to the jury Monday. “The original estimate was 12 weeks, and we might have been a little optimist in reducing it to eight weeks.”

Monday marks the first day of the tenth week of court time, and the ninth week of evidence in the case against Veltman.

He pleaded not guilty back on Sept. 5 to four counts of terrorism-motivated first-degree murder and one count of terrorism-motivated attempted murder for the June 6, 2021 attack on the Afzaal family.

Veltman has admitted – through an agreed statement of fact – that he drove his pickup truck into the family while they were waiting to cross the intersection of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road in London, Ont.

Four people died, grandmother Talat, her son Salman, his wife Madiha and their 15-year-old teenage daughter Yumnah, while a fifth person, a boy who was nine at the time, suffered serious but survivable injuries.

“I thank you for your conscientious intelligent attention throughout the evidence in this case,” Pomerance said to the jury while apologizing for the delay of at least three days.

“I want you to know there are things we need to address. They are very important. We are going to try to address them as efficiently as we can but we also have to get it right,” the judge said.

In typical jury trials, at the conclusion of the evidence, the Crown and defence both get a chance to provide closing arguments to the jury and then the judge provides legal instructions, referred to as the ‘charge to the jury,' to them before retiring to deliberate.

At that point, the jurors will be sequestered to try and reach a unanimous verdict.

The jurors were also warned they might not be needed however until Nov. 14.

According to the judge, Ontario courts don’t sit on Nov. 13 in recognition of Remembrance Day, which falls on a Saturday this year.

“In some respects, it’s unfortunate because it delays our ability to keep going,” Pomerance told the jury. “But I can assure you that whether we bring you back on Friday or bring you back on Tuesday, we will be working very hard throughout the period of time you are not with us.”