A young man may learn the perils of ill-advised social media posts about criminal acts as he faces trial for a vicious stabbing downtown Chilliwack last April.
Jack Stanley Daniel James, 23, faces one count of aggravated assault alongside co-accused Corey Nahanee, 22, and Leonard Nahanee, 28, for an alleged attack on Cody Fleck on April 10, 2015 that left Fleck with deep stab wounds on his neck and back.
In Chilliwack Provincial Court Tuesday, the court heard about a post on the public Facebook group "Chilliwack Uncensored."
In the post, which appears next to a photo of James next to the profile name "Jack Stanley Daniel James," the author writes: "f--king white motherf--kers!!! your buddies gonna get it!! we stabbed your buddy the other one is next just wait your turn .take my phone & money you better watch out ill make you strip down next time I see make you run bare ass. [sic]"
The Nahanee brothers are in custody and were seated Monday and Tuesday in red jumpsuits in the prisoner's box, while James is currently free and sat in the courtroom behind three lawyers.
The trial began with testimony from one police officer who spoke about blood evidence at the scene of the alleged incident on Patten Avenue, and another about video footage of Fleck's actions in and outside Corky's Irish Pub on the night of the incident.
Fleck, who is 25 years old, took the stand Tuesday, and told Crown counsel Henry Waldock what he could recall about the stabbing.
"I remember some sort of altercation," the young man said. "I remember multiple people around me. I remember being covered in blood, feeling hot from all the blood. . . . I screamed 'I'm bleeding and I need an ambulance, I'm going to die.'"
Fleck, who has a shaved head, a long beard and a lengthy, visible scar on the back of this neck, said that's when he fell and all went black.
He said the only thing else he remembered was waking up to a woman helping him, and he told her what to tell his parents.
"'Tell them that I love them,'" he said he told the woman. "That's about all I can recall."
During his testimony, his mother Cindy Fleck, who was in the gallery, began to weep.
All three of those accused in the stabbing have different lawyers. Derwin Petri for Leonard Nahanee, Darrel Schultz for Corey Nahanee, and David Silverman for James.
Silverman began the cross-examination of Fleck, nailing down how much alcohol he consumed that night, which Fleck reported at between 15 to 18 drinks.
Silverman also asked to have the Facebook post explained to the court. Fleck reported that the post on the group "Chilliwack Uncensored" that came from James's account was up briefly, but was quickly taken down "because he realized he had stabbed somebody."
Numerous people, however, took screenshots of the post, a printout of which was shown to Fleck by Waldock on the stand.
Silverman asked how many times Fleck's mother or other people showed him the photo of James from the Facebook post, possibly in an attempt to later argue the victim is blaming James not because Fleck saw him commit the act, but because he was shown the Facebook post.
Schultz had no questions for Fleck, and Petri had a few about Fleck's memory of the night.
Defence appears to be focusing on Fleck's alcohol consumption and lack of memory on the night of the attack to show reasonable doubt about the identification.
Other witnesses were scheduled Tuesday afternoon, after which the trial will break and resume for two final dates in June.