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Friend points to accused as man who knifed victim

BY KEITH LACEY [email protected] A man accused of stabbing a young man who tried to assist his mother during a botched armed robbery will find out in 10 days whether he?s been found innocent or guilty.
BY KEITH LACEY

A man accused of stabbing a young man who tried to assist his mother during a botched armed robbery will find out in 10 days whether he?s been found innocent or guilty.

Justice Robert Del Frate of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice will rule Sept. 27 whether he believes Jason Tolkacz participated in the armed robbery of a West End convenience store near closing time Aug. 13, 2003 and whether he?s the man the Crown alleges stabbed the store owner?s son twice.

Defence counsel Natalie Boivin and assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg gave their final submissions in the often-confusing three-day trial Wednesday.

The key Crown witness, Marcel Williams, 19, is scheduled to be released next week after serving the bulk of a 15-month sentence he received last fall after admitting his role in the armed robbery.

Williams originally refused to testify at trial, but told a preliminary hearing he was assisted in the armed robbery by Tolkacz, 22, and Justin Corbiere, 21.

He didn?t want to testify at trial because he was afraid for his own personal safety and that of his family.

After speaking with his parents, Williams told the court Corbiere had nothing to do with the incident. All charges against Corbiere were then withdrawn.

Williams then proceeded to insist Tolkacz was involved, along with a third man he would not identify.

It was Tolkacz who used pepper spray against the store owner and then stabbed the owner?s young son when he tried to halt the robbery in progress, said Williams.

He and Tolkacz stole a minivan in the hours before the robbery and ditched it once they left the scene, he said. Tolkacz told him he had stabbed someone, said Williams.

Tolkacz and Williams shared numerous letters between themselves while Williams was in custody in Brampton and Boivin insisted the letters prove her client was innocent.

The Crown insisted that certain passages can certainly be interpreted as threatening toward Williams.

In her final submissions, Boivin said it would be ?dangerous? to convict her client, based almost entirely on evidence provided by Williams, because he repeatedly lied and provided contradictory evidence.

There?s no forensic evidence connecting her client to the scene and the only real identification evidence comes from Williams, she said.

One eyewitness who visited the store moments before the robbery could only provide ?limited details?, none which prove beyond a reasonable doubt Tolkacz was involved, she said.

Numerous claims made by Williams at trial were never brought forward before at any stage in the proceedings, which again brings the credibility and reliability of his evidence into question, she said.

Zylberberg disagreed.

While Williams did show inconsistency in certain areas of questioning, he never wavered from the fact Tolkacz was involved and was the person who stabbed the store owner?s son, he said.

?The court must use caution, but it doesn?t mean none of the evidence of Marcel Williams can?t be accepted,? he said.

?He never changed...that Jason Tolkacz was involved.?

Certain portions of the letters written by Tolkacz to Williams can certainly be interpreted as threatening, depending on other evidence presented at trial, said Zylberberg.

Another crucial piece of evidence is the father of Williams saying he saw his son with Tolkacz in a van in the hours before the robbery took place, he said.

Tolkacz remains free on strict bail conditions, pending Del Frate?s decision Sept. 27.