R. v. Gill, 2018 ONSC 6341
Court Information
COURT FILE NO.: CR-17-50000449-0000 DATE: 20181106 ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
Parties and Counsel
BETWEEN: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Applicant – and – Jeetinder Gill Respondent
Counsel: Chris Chorney, for the Crown Julianna Greenspan and Brad Greenshields, for the Respondent
HEARD: August 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 2018; September 6, 7, 14, 27, 28, 2018
BEFORE: FERGUSON J.
Reasons for Judgment
[1] Jeetinder Gill has been charged with attempt murder, by wounding, Manmit Dhillon from an incident which occurred on February 14, 2016. The Crown confirmed that he was not “pushing” attempt murder, rather his submissions were directed to the included offence of aggravated assault. I do not find there to be any credible or reliable evidence of a specific intent to kill and, as a result, take attempt murder “off the table”.
[2] Further the issue of self-defence only arises if I find beyond a reasonable doubt that Jeetinder Gill committed the act at issue – the stabbing. I greatly appreciate the Crown’s fairness in confirming that. In the end it saved considerable time in the writing of these reasons.
The Applicable Law
[3] In R. v. Chauhan, 2014 ONSC 5574 the court set out a helpful summary of certain applicable law particularly with how to assess evidence. The following rules are to be followed in reviewing and assessing the evidence below:
i. All of the evidence should be considered together, rather than assessing individual items of evidence in isolation. (R. v. Morin, [1988] 2 S.C.R. 345 at paras 41, 44 C.C.C. (3d) 193). This is particularly true where the principal issue is the credibility and reliability of witnesses. (R. v. Gostick, (1999), 121 O.A.C. 355 (C.A.), 137 C.C.C. (3d) 53 at paras 14-18 and R. v. B. (R.W.), (1993) 40 W.A.C. 1, [1993] B.C.J. No. 758 (C.A.) at para 28).
ii. The court must be satisfied of two things beyond a reasonable doubt: (i) that the complainant is a credible witness, and (ii) that her account is reliable. (R. v. J.W., 2014 ONCA 322, 316 O.A.C. 395 at para 26).
iii. Credibility is the witness’ willingness to tell the truth. Reliability is the accuracy of the witness’s testimony. Accuracy is affected by the witness’s ability to accurately observe, recall and recount events.
iv. A witness whose evidence is not credible cannot give reliable evidence. However, a credible and honest witness may still be unreliable. (R. v. Morrissey, 22 O.R. (3d) 514, [1995] O.J. No. 639 (CA) at para 33). The reliability of the evidence is what is paramount. (R. v. Norman (1993), 16 O.R. (3d) 295 at para 47, 87 C.C.C. (3d) 153 (C.A.) at para 47).
v. Parts of a witness’ evidence may be accepted and others rejected. Some parts may be more important than others. While a guilty verdict may be founded on the evidence of a single witness, a determination of guilt must not devolve into a credibility contest between two witnesses. Such an approach undermines the presumption of innocence and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. (R. v. Vuradin, 2013 SCC 38 at para 21, [2013] 2 S.C.R. 639).
vi. An accused person is not required to testify. In a case where credibility is important, I am required to take the following approach:
(a) If I believe the accused that he did not commit the offence in question, I must find him not guilty;
(b) If I do not believe that he did not commit the offence but I am left with a reasonable doubt as to this guilt after considering his evidence in the context of the evidence as a whole, I must find him not guilty; and
(c) If I do not believe his assertion that he did not commit the offence in question, and it does not leave me with a reasonable doubt, I must still consider whether, on the whole of the evidence that I do accept, I am satisfied of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. (R. v. W. (D.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 742, [1991] S.C.J. No. 26 at para 28) R. v. J.H.S., 2008 SCC 30 and R. v. J.J.R.D., (2006), 218 O.A.C. 37, 215 C.C.C. (3d) 252.
[4] The Court of Appeal stated the following in R. v. A.M., 2014 ONCA 769:
… one of the most valuable means of assessing witness credibility is to examine the consistency between what the witness said in the witness box and what she has said on other occasions, whether or not under oath: R. v. G. (M.) (1994), 93 C.C.C. (3d) 347 (Ont. C.A.), at p. 354, leave to appeal to S.C.C. refused, [1994] S.C.C.A. No. 390. Inconsistencies may emerge in a witness’ testimony at trial, or between their trial testimony and statements previously given. Inconsistencies may also emerge from things said differently at different times, or from omitting to refer to certain events at one time while referring to them on other occasions.
Inconsistencies vary in their nature and importance. Some are minor, others are not. Some concern material issues, others peripheral subjects. Where an inconsistency involves something material about which an honest witness is unlikely to be mistaken, the inconsistency may demonstrate a carelessness with the truth about which the trier of fact should be concerned: G. (M.), at p. 354.
… a trial judge giving reasons for judgment is neither under the obligation to review and resolve every inconsistency in a witness’ evidence, nor respond to every argument advanced by counsel: R. v. M. (R.E.), 2008 SCC 51, [2008] 3 S.C.R. 3, at para. 64. That said, a trial judge should address and explain how she or he has resolved major inconsistencies in the evidence of material witnesses: G. (M.), at p. 356; R. v. Dinardo, 2008 SCC 24, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 788, at para. 31.
[5] The following fundamental principles must guide my analysis of the evidence. First, Jeetinder Gill is presumed innocent of the charge against him unless the Crown proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of the charge. Second, in order to convict Jeetinder Gill of the offence charged the Crown must prove each and every element of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. The burden of proof remains at all times with the Crown. If there is an air of reality to the defence of self‑defence, then the onus is on the Crown to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did not act in self‑defence. The Crown once again fairly confirmed that there was an air of reality regarding self‑defence arising out of Sanjay Philip’s evidence. Third, since Jeetinder Gill is under no obligation to prove anything in this case, no inference may be drawn from his decision not to testify and not to call any evidence in his defence.
[6] Evidence was heard from the complainant Manmit Dhillon; his brother Ramnik Dhillon; Amritpal Chahil; Jashanvir Sandhu; Bai Bunpanyal (hotel manager); and David Barker (EMS paramedic). A transcript of the preliminary hearing evidence was filed with respect to Jolene Nye (a hotel guest in the next door room to the room in which the incident occurred). A witness warrant was issued for Sanjay Philip who was never found and did not testify. I am satisfied that the police and crown took all necessary and appropriate steps to find and produce Sanjay Philip. On consent his discovery transcript and his redacted police statement were filed as his evidence. In view of the changing, hard to follow, sometimes unbelievable evidence in particular from Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Amritpal Chahil, transcripts of their trial evidence were obtained and were extensively used in producing these reasons. (and used obviously extensively in defence counsel’s very thorough written submissions)
[7] An agreed statement of fact was filed as an exhibit and includes the following facts:
On February 14, 2016, rooms 808 and 1121 (Sandman Hotel) were secured and photographed by police. Police did not conduct an exhaustive search of rooms 808 and 1121 for hidden weapons/knives. Based the information they had received at that time, they did not think it was necessary to do so.
Police did not search the hotel stairwell connecting all floors that was accessible directly across from the door of room 808 and did not search the 11th floor stairwells for possible hidden weapons.
Police did not search the hotel grounds below the balcony of room 808 for possible hidden weapons.
Police did not search Ramnik Dhillon, Amritpal Cahil, Sanjay Philip, or Jashanvir Sandhu for weapons.
Apparent pooled blood or spatter in room 808 including on a pillow, countertop, mirrored closet door, inside the closet door, outer bathroom door, hallway, and 8th floor elevator door was photographed by police. Some swabs were taken but none were submitted for forensic testing. Under the circumstances the Centre of Forensic Science determined it was not necessary to identify the sources of blood. When he was arrested, Jeetinder Gill did not declare any injuries or have any apparent cuts.
Apparent artifacts on countertops in rooms 808 and 1121 (white powdery residue, metal spoon with residue) were not seized by police. No testing was sought to determine the nature of any substance.
[8] There was also an admission that the WhatsAp messages are between Ramnit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill. Ramnit Dhillon deleted them from his phone after the incident but they were retrieved from Jeetinder Gill’s phone (copies were made exhibits).
Analysis of the Vetrovic Unsavoury Witnesses
i. I agree that Ramnik Dhillon, Manmit Dhillon, Amritpal Chahil and Sanjay Philip are unsavoury and that they should all be assessed as Vetrovic witnesses.
ii. Sanjay Philip is a special witness. He is unsavory but he is also in his own category – as a “mixed witness”. Part of his discovery evidence is his denial of the weapon which implicates Jeetinder Gill. Other parts of his discovery evidence provides exculpatory evidence of Jeetinder Gill acting in self‑defence. I will not be analyzing self‑defence and as a result, it is not necessary to analyze Sanjay Philip’s exculpatory evidence regarding self‑defence.
Summaries of Evidence
[9] Manmit Dhillon testified as follows:
i. He is 32 and has known Jeetinder Gill since Grade 9.
ii. Before February 14, 2016, his last contact with Jeetinder Gill was probably when they were in high school, some 13 years ago.
iii. His brother was also acquainted with Jeetinder Gill.
iv. Amritpal Chahil was also his friend and Jashanvir Sandhu was a family friend.
v. Sanjay Philip is his brother’s friend and became a friend of his since high school.
vi. He was to get married in India in March of 2016.
vii. On February 13, 2016, an event was planned around the wedding. They had a celebration at the Forum Banquet Hall in Rexdale.
viii. Ramnik Dhillon, Amritpal Chahil, Sanjay Philip and Jashanvir Sandhu were present. Jeetinder Gill was not invited.
ix. He thought the party started at 6:00 p.m. and went until around midnight. He cannot say how much food and alcohol he consumed but said he felt okay.
x. They planned to go to his cousin’s house to sleep. Something changed and he believes that his brother got a call from Jashanvir Sandhu who said he had a hotel room.
xi. They got to the suite on the 11th floor and there were other friends and relatives present. Jashanvir Sandhu, Sanjay Philip and Amritpal Chahil were present. Everyone was happy and celebrating.
xii. His brother said that Jeetinder Gill was calling him and wanted to come over and his brother asked them if that was a good idea. He said sure. No one had a problem. He knew that Sanjay Philip and Jeetinder Gill knew each other from high school.
xiii. He was at the hotel for about an hour before Jeetinder Gill arrived.
xiv. When Jeetinder Gill showed up, he and Sanjay Philip got into an altercation. He was in the bathroom at the time and heard a commotion by the front door. He did not see the altercation. He went over to the door and told them to stop or leave.
xv. He heard that Sanjay Philip had punched Jeetinder Gill. He heard the verbal exchange and shouting but was not able to understand it because they were speaking in Tamil. He thought that exchange went on for 5 to 10 minutes.
xvi. They came in the room and quieted down. He had a good catch‑up with Jeetinder Gill. He thought this was around 2:00 a.m. Everyone was intoxicated.
xvii. To him, intoxicated means still okay. He was busy as the host and he did not have any difficulty communicating. He does not remember everything but thinks his memory is pretty good.
xviii. A few hours later, they got a call from Jashanvir Sandhu who told him that he had another room. They agreed to go to the other room. He is not sure if they all left at once. A lot of guests had left by then. A few guys were sleeping on the 11th floor including Amritpal Chahil.
xix. Everybody was happy and celebrating.
xx. He believes that Jashanvir Sandhu and Sanjay Philip were in the second room.
xxi. He cannot remember if he consumed more alcohol in the second room.
xxii. He thinks Amritpal Chahil came to the room at some point and that Jashanvir Sandhu left at some point.
xxiii. There were no conflicts other than the one that took place on the 11th floor.
xxiv. As the sun was coming up, he was a bit tired and they were going to try and call it a night to sleep. Amritpal Chahil, Sanjay Philip, his brother and Jeetinder Gill were in the room.
xxv. He had a conversation with Jeetinder Gill. They were both in the transportation industry. Jeetinder Gill told him that he was looking for work. He told Jeetinder Gill that they had a transportation company that was not seasonal and could offer work. Jeetinder Gill invited him to his truck yard and he said no because it was so late. He was not sure if Jeetinder Gill was upset as a result of this conversation.
xxvi. Jeetinder Gill was walking towards the door. He went to the door and they were hugging. Jeetinder Gill started stabbing him. He did not know Jeetinder Gill had a knife. First it felt like a pinching type feeling. Then he looked down and saw that he was being stabbed by Jeetinder Gill. He saw blood everywhere. Jeetinder Gill stabbed him six or seven times. He stepped back and Jeetinder Gill remained swinging at him. He tried to block the stabs with his left arm which got cut as well.
xxvii. Jeetinder Gill had something gripped in his hand. He thinks it was a knife. He can’t remember what it looked like.
xxviii. During the stabbing he stepped back and said to Jeetinder Gill “what are you doing? Like did you just stab me?” Jeetinder Gill said to him “you’re dead”, smirked at him and ran off. He then fell back and blacked out. His brother was holding him.
xxix. He is aware that his injuries included a puncture straight through his lung which touched his heart. There was a stab wound in the area of the kidneys. An arm vein got cut a lot and there was some nerve damage. He had to have surgery.
xxx. He has no recollection of talking with the police officer at the hospital and telling the officer about his asking Jeetinder Gill to leave when Jeetinder Gill got argumentative and started to push and fight with him.
xxxi. As he and Jeetinder Gill got to the door there was no pushing or shoving. He did not tell Jeetinder Gill to leave.
xxxii. He agrees that it makes no sense as to why this happened this way. He said maybe Jeetinder Gill had a problem with his ego because he offered him a job.
xxxiii. In his direct evidence he said that Jeetinder Gill must have pushed him back into the door. He may have said that because he saw Exhibit 7. He accepts that this is the first time he has said this.
xxxiv. He denies that he had an incident with Sanjay Philip when they were sitting on the bed talking, when he grabbed Sanjay Philip in the crotch area and that Sanjay Philip called him a name “battyman”. He is not sure if that word means homosexual. He does not think this happened. He said “I don’t think so, but yeah”.
xxxv. It was put to him that his brother took offence to Sanjay Philip calling him that name and that Sanjay Philip and his brother were yelling and swearing at each other. He does not recall getting between the two of them. He accepts it could have happened. It sounds like a story to him.
xxxvi. He does not recall grabbing Jeetinder Gill by the throat part of his shirt. He does not accept that he was beating up Jeetinder Gill and that he was pushing Jeetinder Gill towards his brother, Amritpal Chahil and Sanjay Philip.
xxxvii. He does not accept that everyone was pushing each other around the door area and that the glass door broke when people were falling into the door.
xxxviii. He does not accept that everyone was punching and attacking Jeetinder Gill who was running for his life.
xxxix. He has no knowledge of his brother getting his finger injured. He has never spoken to his brother about his injury. He never talked to his brother about what happened at the doorway just about why it happened.
xl. He does not accept that when Jeetinder Gill had called his brother that Sanjay Philip said “absolutely do not have him come over”. This makes no sense to him. It also makes no sense to him that his brother thought it was funny to invite Jeetinder Gill anyway.
xli. He was not drinking heavily and he thinks the alcohol was done by the time they got to the 8th floor. He does not remember alcohol being ordered to the room on the 11th floor. He would not agree that at the time he was a regular heavy drinker and said he was a casual drinker.
xlii. Before the incident, he was very close to Jashanvir Sandhu. He denies that Jashanvir Sandhu had a falling out with him because their entire relationship was based over alcohol and that Jashanvir Sandhu was upset about this. He believes that the falling out came about because Jashanvir Sandhu did not check on him at the hospital.
xliii. He is not aware that when they took his blood alcohol levels, that he was over three times the legal limit.
xliv. He was convicted of an impaired in 2009 but is not familiar with blood alcohol levels.
xlv. He does not believe that he used cocaine that night. He can’t remember. When asked if he had ever taken cocaine before, he said no, then said not that he could remember.
xlvi. He thought it had been over a decade since there had been any charges against him. He cannot remember an assault causing bodily harm charge in 2011. Then he said that he thinks it was dropped. Other than the conviction for impaired driving, he cannot remember any other charges. He cannot remember a 2013 charge for assault and theft.
The Analysis of the Evidence of Manmit Dhillon
[10] Manmit Dhillon’s testimony, particularly his cross‑examination, was marked by a shifting target of the truth where he was called out on a problem with his evidence, and then attempted to bend his evidence to meet the inconsistency rather than accepting that the inconsistencies could not both be the truth. His evidence was self‑serving and his memory was selective in the material aspects of his testimony. His evidence concerning the incident itself is so inherently implausible that it is totally absurd. His evidence regarding the incident is rejected outright as illogical and not worthy of belief. He was not being truthful. It is significant that his alcohol level was three times the legal limit at 11:55 a.m. in the hospital.
[11] His testimony that as he walked Jeetinder Gill to the door that they embraced in a brotherly goodbye hug and out of nowhere he was stabbed is a ridiculous story. There was an altercation in that room involving all of them - an intoxicated, cocaine using group.
[12] With respect to what he remembered at the glass sliding door he said “I’m thinking he probably shoved me, but like, when he was stabbing me, I think he just kind of, like, pushed me back into there. I’m not quite sure”. He accepted that this was the first time he ever said that Jeetinder Gill pushed him back at the mirror. He came up with a ridiculous answer “if I used the term stabbed me back that would be the same thing. I’ve been using the term stabbed me, he kind of stabbed, pushed into me right? It’s the same but okay”.
[13] Manmit Dhillon has no clear evidence of seeing the weapon with which he was stabbed. He claims to have paused and asked Jeetinder Gill “did you just stab me” and hearing Jeetinder Gill say “you’re dead”. Manmit Dhillon however can provide no description of the weapon. When you look at the evidence as a whole, in particular, Sanjay Philip’s evidence, the most sensible inference is that Manmit Dhillon has no idea how he was stabbed or by whom.
[14] Manmit Dhillon’s police statement provided at the hospital sets out that before the stabbing occurred, Jeetinder Gill became argumentative, that he told Jeetinder Gill to leave and that there was pushing shoving and fighting. He denied any memory of this and then said “I don’t, but, yeah, I guess maybe I just combined it all. I asked them to leave in the beginning, him and Sanjay when they were arguing. I mean I just combined all that”. This evidence about an argument and a fight before the stabbing is irreconcilable with his later friendly hugging stabbing story.
[15] Despite the fact that he had three times the legal limit of alcohol, his evidence at trial regarding alcohol consumption was all over the place. When asked by the Crown he said he was okay. He claimed that the single bottle of Crown Royal at the hotel was shared with 10 people. He flatly denied drinking heavily. He said “we were just casually drinking”. He claimed that the alcohol ran out when they went to 808. He didn’t remember being drunk because he pretty much remembered what happened to him, including the stabbing. He denied Jashanvir Sandhu’s evidence that after this happened he discontinued all contact with Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon because their relationship was all about alcohol. The objective medical evidence puts the lie to Manmit Dhillon’s self‑serving testimony as does the evidence from Sanjay Phillip and the others about the level of drinking.
[16] Manmit Dhillon’s evidence regarding cocaine use was also unbelievable. He could not commit to yes or no answers and his responses included “I don’t think so; I can’t recall; I can’t remember and/or I don’t know”. His answer as to whether he took cocaine on February 13th or 14th, was “Not that I remember”. He also said that he could not say no because it could be true. He is saying he does not remember when asked if he had ever taken cocaine in the past. His answer was again “not that I remember, no”.
[17] Manmit Dhillon’s evidence that he never discussed what had happened with his brother is clearly unbelievable. He lived at home with his brother at the time of the incident and continues to live there today. He even denied that he knew that his brother had given a police statement.
[18] He also denied calling Sanjay Philip in the summer of 2016, asking to meet to discuss the case. Sanjay Philip testified about this and stated that when he got the call he got upset with Manmit Dhillon and refused to meet. I accept Sanjay Philip’s evidence on this point.
[19] Also unbelievable is the fact that Manmit Dhillon claimed he never spoke with his brother about his brother’s injury nor what happened at the door with Jeetinder Gill. Manmit Dhillon denied any loud noises, yelling, screaming and commotion before the stabbing. His evidence is not just contradicted by Sanjay Philip but is also contradicted and undermined by the evidence of Jolene Nye, an objective witness, who recalled several episodes of aggressive and loud shouting, yelling and commotion in 808 starting at 6:00 a.m. and continuing periodically up to moments before the incident when she heard the mirror crash. Jolene’s Nye’s evidence is set out more fully in her section. That evidence is also corroborated by Bai Bunpanyal who testified as to the several noise complaints.
[20] I do not accept or believe any of Manmit Dhillon’s evidence.
[21] Ramnik Dhillon testified as follows:
i. He is 34 and Manmit Dhillon is his little brother.
ii. Jeetinder Gill was a friend of his brother. Prior to February 13, 2016, it was probably years ago that he saw Jeetinder Gill.
iii. Amritpal Chahil was a friend.
iv. He knows Sanjay Philip as they went to the same school.
v. Jashanvir Sandhu is a close family friend.
vi. His brother was getting married in March of 2016 in India. The event on February 13, 2016 was a pre-wedding function.
vii. Amritpal Chahil was invited. Sanjay Philip was not invited but he came along with Jashanvir Sandhu. Jeetinder Gill was not invited.
viii. He attended at the Forum Banquet Hall at around 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. where food and alcohol were served with an open bar. He had a few drinks of scotch but was not drunk.
ix. He went with his father, brother and two friends to a friend’s house around midnight.
x. Jashanvir Sandhu and he had plans to throw his brother a surprise party at a hotel and at some point he told his brother about the plans.
xi. They went straight to the room on the 11th floor and there were about ten people there.
xii. He thinks Amritpal Chahil was present but was sleeping.
xiii. Everyone was having fun and there was further consumption of alcohol. He did not see any drugs.
xiv. At some point, Jeetinder Gill called him on WhatsApp and asked if he could come over. He asked everyone in the room if he could come and no one had a problem. He told him to come over.
xv. When Jeetinder Gill walked into the room Sanjay Philip punched him in the face. His brother took Jeetinder Gill into the bathroom and calmed him down. He believes his brother spoke to Sanjay Philip as well.
xvi. After the punching scene everything was normal. Both Jeetinder Gill and Sanjay Philip were talking to everyone. There were no other issues.
xvii. When he and his brother went to the room on the 8th floor, Jashanvir Sandhu was present with some guy from BC. He doesn’t know if Sanjay Philip was there or if he came after.
xviii. At some point, Amritpal Chahil who had been sleeping upstairs came down.
xix. He cannot say what time the incident happened. He believes the sun was coming up.
xx. Jeetinder Gill and his brother were by the door. He thought they were hugging. He saw back and forth movement. He thought it was brotherly love and then he saw his brother fall into the closet.
xxi. He believes that prior to this his brother was talking to Jeetinder Gill about a truck yard. Jeetinder Gill said he had friends who could pick them up to go there. He told Jeetinder Gill it was too late and that he should talk to his brother later.
xxii. Jeetinder Gill and his brother were near the door. Jeetinder Gill’s back was towards the door. He thought they were hugging. They were moving back and forth. He didn’t hear them say anything. He saw his brother fall into the closet. He got off the bed and ran over and he heard the glass breaking. As he went towards them, Jeetinder Gill just turned around and ran down the hall. He placed his brother on the floor. He thought he had fallen into the closet.
xxiii. He chased Jeetinder Gill to the elevator.
xxiv. Sanjay Philip arrived at the elevator and was shouting and tearing up saying “he stabbed him, he stabbed him”.
xxv. When he got back to the room he got on top of his brother and was handed towels from Amritpal Chahil which he used to apply pressure to the wound.
xxvi. He saw a cut on his chest and opened his shirt and saw a massive wound. He had a lot of stab wounds.
xxvii. Help arrived. He can’t remember who arrived first, the police or the ambulance.
xxviii. His brother was conscious and said to him, “I don’t think I am going to make it”.
xxix. The EMS took over and the police arrived. Amritpal Chahil and Sanjay Philip were still there.
xxx. He believes that Jashanvir Sandhu came back into the room but was not in the room when the incident happened.
xxxi. He did not see any weapons that night.
xxxii. He agrees that he put his brother down on the ground where the blood in the photos was located.
xxxiii. In the second room everyone had settled down and were having a good time. They did a lot of talking about family.
xxxiv. He agrees that he told the police in his statement that at the hotel “I was out of it.”
xxxv. He said the following to police during his video statement, “I---that’s honestly I can’t remember. I’m pretty sure he was with me (meaning brother) but I really can’t remember because we were drinking heavy, we were drinking scotch all night”.
xxxvi. He still lives together with his brother and their families. They have sort of talked about the incident but not exactly what happened. He does not have much contact with Amritpal Chahil now – his brother has more.
xxxvii. His hand injury was treated by the EMS and then treated at the hospital with some staples or stitches. It’s possible that the blood on the pillow is his. When he was out in the hallway he was not gushing blood and was able to stop it by pushing down with his thumb.
xxxviii. He said it was not accurate when he said that he had fallen into the glass because he was still on his feet.
xxxix. He accepts that when he talked to the police he told them they had both fallen into the glass (he and his brother). He said that’s basically true. He sort of fell into the glass.
xl. As he was trying to hold up his brother Jeetinder Gill was stabbing his brother.
xli. It was suggested to him that the following happened, that his brother was on the bed with Sanjay Philip and his brother grabbed Sanjay Philip in the groin and that Sanjay Philip called him a “battyman” which means homosexual. Ramnik Dhillon denies knowing this word. He does not accept that his brother said that and that Sanjay Philip took exception and went after his brother.
xlii. He does not accept that they were all yelling at each other and that Jeetinder Gill got involved and intervened.
xliii. He does not accept that his brother was grabbing at Jeetinder Gill and that they all started beating up and throwing punches at Jeetinder. He does not accept that his brother was punching Jeetinder Gill and that Jeetinder Gill was running for his life. This is all a lie. There was no attack on Jeetinder Gill.
xliv. He does not recall if he used cocaine that night. He then said he didn’t do it that night or he was pretty sure he didn’t do it that night His brother could have taken it he does not know.
xlv. He accepts that what he said at the preliminary hearing was that he was not violent unless provoked. He has had a conviction for an impaired. He has no recollection of a 2011 altercation in a bar with his brother when they were charged with assault cause bodily harm. He does not recall being charged in 2003 or 2004 with assault with a weapon and uttering a threat. He has absolutely no memory of being charged with possession of weapon dangerous in 2005.
xlvi. The WhatsApp messages were reviewed with him. The messages do not ring a bell. He has no recollection of these messages that reference cocaine.
xlvii. He agrees that if he had not deleted the messages the police would have the chats from his phone. He does not remember these conversations. He does not accept that he was doing cocaine every night. He does not recall a text exchange with Jeetinder Gill.
xlviii. It was put to him that he was destroying evidence which showed that he was a heavy cocaine user and drinker. He denied this.
xlix. He told the police that he and Jeetinder Gill had barely communicated for a year and would not agree that these WhatsApp messages do not make any sense as a result of his comment.
l. What he said to the police at the time was true about how the incident happened but today he believes that it was Jeetinder Gill’s knife that stabbed him.
li. He denies that Sanjay Philip said “I don’t want him here, I don’t want him coming by”. He does not know why Sanjay Philip didn’t want him there.
lii. He knew that Sanjay Philip had been arguing with Jeetinder Gill in the past because he blamed Jeetinder Gill for getting arrested on a DUI.
liii. He agrees that he told the officers that he got his injury to his hand when he fell into the glass and he had cut his hand.
liv. His police statement was put to him: “When I seen them pushing and shoving they were by the door so I was here by like, there was like, a balcony. When I turned over I seen them pushing and shoving by the door so I went over and they are falling into the glass and then I pick him up and that is where I got my cut and then I don’t know”.
lv. That is what he believed at the time but over time he has come to believe that it was Jeetinder Gill’s knife which caused his injury. He agreed that what he said to the police was what he believed at the time.
lvi. He then said as they fell into the closet he had his hand around his brother and he guesses that that is when he got stabbed.
lvii. He was on the bed, heard the glass breaking, heard some pushing and shoving and ran over. He had his arm around his brother as he went into the glass and then he removed his brother and placed him gently onto the floor. At this point Jeetinder Gill ran out.
lviii. He was shown Exhibit 6 which shows that his brother was not lying down near the glass area. He then said that his brother was not falling right away. He said somehow his brother got to the area where the blood is located on the photograph. He has no explanation but he confirmed that it is where they ended up. He said his brother may have stumbled and moved and he helped him along the way, guided him.
lix. He agrees that he told the police officers that he fell into the glass too. He does not recall that now and agreed it would have been the truth when he told the police.
lx. He ran out to chase Jeetinder Gill who was at the elevator and was standing with his arms raised and moving about. His explanation as to Jeetinder Gill stabbing his brother, but was not holding a knife rambles on in a nonsensical fashion.
lxi. He said that Jeetinder Gill was never on the 11th floor. It was suggested to him that he had lied to the police about Jeetinder Gill not being in the other room and he explained that what he meant was whether or not Jeetinder Gill ever went back to the room on the 11th floor. There was another ridiculous nonsensical rambling attempt at an explanation.
lxii. It was put to him that it was ridiculous when he said that Jeetinder Gill did not know about the other room when they were on the 11th floor and that he just made that up. He said no because he knew that Jeetinder Gill was on the 11th floor.
lxiii. He agrees that when the police officer asked about WhatsApp messages and to provide them he told the other officer that he had deleted everything. He does not remember when he deleted the WhatsApp messages he cannot say if it was prior to the event. He does not remember why he deleted them.
The Analysis of the Evidence of Ramnik Dhillon
[22] I agree with defence counsel that Ramnik Dhillon was a witness who persistently refused to give a straight answer in cross-examination. He had a selective lack of memory for facts that were damaging to him or his brother. His evidence shifted significantly on critical issues from his police statement to his testimony at the preliminary hearing and even within the course of his trial testimony. It was clear that he had discussed things with his brother including the “hugging” by the mirrored closet.
[23] The issue of alcohol consumption was ridiculous. Initially he said he was okay and also that his brother was fine. He could not recall if his brother was drinking at the hotel at all. Even after confronted with his police statement in which he said he was drinking heavily, (Scotch all night), he continued to deny it. He denied that the falling out he had with Jashanvir Sandhu was because the “relationship” was based entirely on alcohol.
[24] His use of cocaine evidence is beyond the absurd. He “denied taking it, said I do not know and did not think it was there - pretty sure I did not”. I do not believe him. His evidence is contradicted by Sanjay Philip, who confirmed that everyone was using cocaine and drinking heavily.
[25] He told the police that it had been months and years before his last WhatsApp messages with Jeetinder Gill. This was a clear lie. The messages were retrieved from Jeetinder Gill’s phone. Ramnik Dhillon had deleted those messages between the incident and his police statement taken on the same day of the incident. There was an unbelievable discussion with the police officer about the deletion. These messages confirm Ramnik Dhillon’s abuse of cocaine and excessive drinking and the trouble he gets himself into when he does that. In cross, he accepted his name in the chats, denied any recollection of the chats including the ones that reference taking too much cocaine and partying too hard every night.
[26] He told the police that he cut his finger on the mirror when he was picking up his brother. I agree that this was to just downplay the extent of his own injury. He also claimed that the blood drips in the hallway were not his blood. He suggested that the blood could only have been dripping constantly from Jeetinder Gill’s knife which was crazily waving around. He said this even though he had already said that he never saw Jeetinder Gill with any knife. He downplayed the extent of his injury suggesting that pressing on the finger with the thumb stopped the blood. When shown the photos that showed his left forearm and hand in full bandage all the way to his elbow treated he agreed that he had received stitches. He rejected the paramedic report that his wound was a partial amputation and was spurting blood. I agree that Ramnik Dhillon wanted to distance himself from his role in the melee and potentially his role in producing the weapon.
[27] Ramnik Dhillon initially told the police that he saw Manmit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill “kind of like pushing and shoving” by the door falling into the glass door. At trial he adopted his brother’s story that Manmit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill were hugging by the door in a brotherly hug. When confronted by the inconsistency at trial he said “the hug was the push because they – I thought they were hugging, but they clearly weren’t”. Ramnik Dhillon said he could see from where he was sitting in a chair near the balcony door, around the corner to see the corridor and the mirrored closet. I agree with counsel that this would have required him to have vision that can bend around corners. This is a ridiculous lie and was contradicted by Amritpal Chahil who said that from the bed where he was lying (in the same area of the chair in which Ramnik Dhillon was sitting) you could not see around the corner down to the end of the hall where the incident occurred. Photographs confirm this.
[28] When Ramnik Dhillon gave his police statement he denied the Jeetinder Gill was ever in room 1121. This allowed him to not tell the police about the incident between Sanjay Philip and Jeetinder Gill which occurred in that room. After being confronted about this in cross-examination Ramnik Dhillon came up with his own [I agree freelance explanation] “Well I thought what was asked of me… did we go back to the 11 th room, like, after we had gone to the eighth did we go back and forth that’s what I thought the question was”.
[29] Ramnik Dhillon testified that he received a call from Jeetinder Gill and that he showed the phone around to everyone and no one had a problem with his coming. His brother confirmed this. However I accept Sanjay Philip’s evidence as to his own reaction in that he got very angry which led to his attack on Jeetinder Gill when he arrived in 1121. Sanjay Philip confirmed that he continued to be angry about this and that he had another outburst in 808.
[30] Sanjay Philip’s extreme frustration with Jeetinder Gill’s arrival at the party is clear. This entire event was omitted from Ramnik Dhillon’s police statement. Ramnik Dhillon was aware of Sanjay Philip’s beef with Jeetinder Gill which involved Sanjay Philip getting an impaired driving charge after a barbecue at Jeetinder Gill’s house. Ramnik Dhillon was also vague about Sanjay Philip being in 808. He stated “the only person I don’t remember is Sanjay, if he was already there or came after”.
[31] Ramnik Dhillon gave a “tortured account” of falling into the mirrored closet or not falling in but bouncing off and running gracefully to catch his brother from falling, gently putting him down on the floor. His account is contradicted by Sanjay Philip and also by Amritpal Chahil who testified that Manmit Dhillon fell into the middle of the room alone unaided and then Ramnik Dhillon got up and blew by his brother to chase after Jeetinder Gill.
[32] I do not accept or believe any of the evidence of Ramnik Dhillon.
Summary of the Evidence of Sanjay Philip from his Police Statement
i. Sanjay Philip started off by telling the officer that he had nothing to say. He then confirmed that he knew Jashanvir Sandhu, Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dillon and Amritpal Chahil.
ii. When the incident happened he was in 1121 with Amritpal Chahil who was sleeping. He only heard about the incident after it happened.
iii. He went to the Sandman hotel with Jashanvir Sandhu and they went to room 1121 with eventually others coming to that room.
iv. He only went down to 808 after Manmit Dhillon got hurt which was about 45 minutes before the police arrived.
v. He does not know Jeetinder Gill. He has never seen him.
vi. There was no fight in 1121. He did not have a fight with anybody.
Summary of the Discovery Evidence of Sanjay Philip
i. Sanjay Philip confirmed that he met Jeetinder Gill back in highschool days. He was friends with Ramnik and Manmit Dhillon. In the summer of 2013, he went to a barbecue at Jeetinder Gill’s house. A bunch of guys were chilling and drinking. He was talking to Jeetinder Gill and they were both drunk. All of a sudden he grabbed Jeetinder Gill’s shirt by the neck and said to him “yo, you forgot me”. He was drunk and mad. Three guys then jumped him and beat him up. He was drunk and mad and as a result he drove off and got an impaired driving charge and was convicted of it. He blamed Jeetinder Gill.
ii. He attended the banquet at the Forum Banquet Hall on February 13, 2016, with Jashanvir Sandhu. They left around midnight and went to the Sandman hotel to chill and drink. At some point the police brought up Amritpal Chahil to the room who was very drunk and wasted. At some point Ramnik Dhillon, Manmit Dhillon and others arrived. Everyone was drinking and pretty much everyone was doing cocaine.
iii. At some point Jeetinder Gill was calling Ramnik Dhillon on WhatsApp and wanted to come to the hotel. He didn’t want Ramnik Dhillon to even pick up the phone. Ramnik Dhillon did not listen to him. About an hour later Jeetinder Gill arrived at the door. Sanjay Philip was really mad and wondered why Ramnik Dhillon wanted to bring him on this happy day. Ramnik Dhillon knew he had problems with Jeetinder Gill. As soon as Jeetinder Gill arrived he went over to him to hurt him. Everybody held him back. They were swearing and he was saying things like “I’m going to mess you up”. He was getting really frustrated. As soon as Jeetinder Gill got close to him he started punching him. The guys grabbed him back and they were pulled apart. Half of the guys stayed with him in that room and some of the others left with Jeetinder Gill and went somewhere else.
iv. At about 6:00 a.m. he found out that the guys were down in another room. When he got to that room Manmit Dhillon said to him something like, “Please let’s just calm down and have you guys make up”. They were talking about the 2013 incident and Jeetinder Gill said he was sorry. Manmit Dhillon was holding on to him to and they all start hugging and he started tearing up. He forgave Jeetinder Gill which is when it got very emotional.
v. They were all than sitting around and some of them were sitting on the bed. He was not aware of any issues between Manmit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill in high school.
vi. Manmit Dhillon was sitting on the bed beside Sanjay Philip who was pretty much lying down. Manmit Dhillon leaned over and kind of rubbed Sanjay Philip in a pretty much gay way. He said to Manmit Dhillon, what kind of “battyman” thing you doing. They were laughing. Then Ramnik Dhillon started swearing at him. He got up and Manmit Dhillon grabbed him. As Manmit Dhillon was grabbing him, he went forward. Ramnik Dhillon told his brother to stop and when his brother did not, Ramnik Dhillon got involved. Manmit Dhillon then turned from him and grabbed Jeetinder Gill and started grabbing and choking Jeetinder Gill. As soon as that happened Jeetinder Gill was like walking backwards towards the door. Then Ramnik Dhillon went towards Manmit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill. They then all start hitting Jeetinder Gill who was running towards the door backwards. There was a big commotion and they were all punching Jeetinder Gill who opened the door and ran out. Ramnik Dhillon ran after Jeetinder Gill towards the elevator. When they heard Manmit Dhillon saying that he’s hurt, he and Ramnik Dhillon run back to the room.
vii. Manmit Dhillon had done stupid stuff when drunk such as kissing on a cheek. When he asked Manmit Dhillon if he was a “battyman” he was not angry. He was joking.
viii. Sanjay Philip was again taken through what happened during the melee which included Manmit Dhillon grabbing Jeetinder Gill. He also grabbed Jeetinder Gill by the neck of his shirt and started pushing him. Jeetinder Gill was pushing him back. “That’s when everybody started jumping in. As soon as this was happening everything is he’s turning backwards. Like he is facing forward and he is running backwards”. He further testified “like Amritpal jumped over the bed and me and Ramnik neck we ran and we were pretty much we were hitting him”. He further said “Ramnik started punching Billa. Amritpal started punching Billa. I started punching Billa too because we all drunk, pretty much”. Billa is Jeetinder Gill.
ix. This incident happened in a matter of seconds. They were punching Jeetinder Gill. One punch from Ramnik Dhillon landed on Jeetinder Gill’s face. As he was being pushed towards the front door, Jeetinder Gill got pushed into the glass. That’s when he opened the door and took off. Pretty much everybody fell into the glass.
x. At no point in time did he see a weapon. He did not have a knife with him that day. He never saw Jeetinder Gill with a weapon. He didn’t hear any threatening words such as “I’m going to kill you, I’m gonna hurt you”. He further said “I don’t see anybody saying anything like that”.
xi. He has not spoken to Jeetinder Gill since the incident. He heard from Manmit Dhillon at one point who asked him to come meet up and talk about the incident but told him that he did not want to be involved.
xii. In cross-examination he agreed that when he first spoke to the police the first thing he told him was “he had nothing to say”. When he was with the police officer he knew that Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon, Amritpal Chahil and he had swarmed Jeetinder Gill. He did not want to tell the police about this and he did not want to get Ramnik and Manmit Dhillon in trouble with the police. Cocaine was being taken by everyone that evening and he didn’t want to tell the police about that.
xiii. He went to see Manmit Dhillon at the hospital to see how he was doing. He remained mad at Ramnik Dhillon because Jeetinder Gill had been invited to the party and he had not wanted him coming.
xiv. When he found out that the police were trying to serve a subpoena on him to provide his evidence, he personally and voluntarily went and picked it up.
xv. Part of the reason he was so upset was that Ramnik Dhillon knew that he had had problems with Jeetinder Gill. He was angry because he didn’t know that Ramnik Dhillon was still in touch with Jeetinder Gill. He told Ramnik Dhillon to not even pick up the phone and ruin the night but he did so. He made it perfectly clear to Ramnik Dhillon that he did not want Jeetinder Gill there. He felt that if Jeetinder Gill showed up there was going to be violence. He was enraged when Jeetinder Gill walked in.
Analysis of the Evidence of Sanjay Philip
[33] Sanjay Philip was absent as a witness at this trial and it is clear that he was avoiding being found despite the police properly using aggressive techniques to find him. This had a great affect on the conduct of the trial as I was unable to assess his demeanour and make findings about his credibility and reliability as a witness. Defence counsel could not cross‑examine him at trial and I agree that they may very well have had other areas that were not explored in cross‑examination at his discovery. However “it is what it is” and I do have his transcript evidence.
[34] I agree that Sanjay Philip’s evidence puts the lie to the varying accounts of the spontaneous and unprovoked hugging/stabbing version as provided by Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Amritpal Chahil.
[35] Sanjay Philip denied using any weapon that night. Who knows if this is the truth? I know that he blatantly lied to the police. I know of his history of violence and use of weapons and his extensive criminal record.
[36] Sanjay Philip acknowledged that he was drunk and high on cocaine, along with everyone else. It appears that everyone at that party was drunk and high.
[37] I do not believe all of Sanjay Philip’s evidence. I however do not need to. I can accept, some, none or all his evidence summarized above from his discovery transcript about the incident as he described it in room 808, including his participation. That evidence of a fight is corroborated by Jolene Nye and Bai Bunpanyal. I do not believe and accept the evidence given by Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Amritpal Chahil, which is a version of “peace and love” in the room and the out of the blue stabbing or as defence counsel call it, the “unprovoked and inexplicable hugging turned stabbing”. At the end of the day, I have no clue as to who possessed and used the weapon.
[38] Because of this finding, I am not going to analyse Sanjay Philip’s evidence on how it affects the issue of self‑defence. I agree that had it been necessary, Sanjay Philip’s evidence provided an air of reality to self‑defence.
[39] Amritpal Chahil testified as follows:
i. In February of 2016 he was friends with Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Jashanvir Sandhu, dating back to highschool.
ii. He was present at the Forum Banquet Hall on February 13, 2006 for the pre‑wedding function. He was pretty intoxicated at the banquet.
iii. He left between 11:30 and 12:00 p.m. He had been drinking quite a bit and made his way to the Moxie’s at the Sandman Hotel where he had more drinks.
iv. He does not recall being taken to a hotel room by the police because he was a problem in Moxie’s (noisy and arguing).
v. He remembers falling asleep (blacking out) in one room, perhaps 1121 and waking up at 8:45 a.m.
vi. He called Manmit Dhillon who told him they were in room 808.
vii. He went to that room. Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon, Sanjay Philip and some other guy who he had not met before, Jeetinder Gill, were present.
viii. The atmosphere in the room was fine and there were no signs that anything was going to happen.
ix. He was on the bed and was sort of drifting in and out of sleep.
x. Just prior to the incident he saw Jeetinder Gill and Manmit Dhillon close together moving back and forth. He thought they were hugging. He agreed that he did not tell the police that he saw them hugging. They had gone into a corner near the door. He heard a bang. Manmit Dhillon fell into the glass. He ran up to Manmit Dhillon who said “he stabbed me, he stabbed me”. He saw him fall towards the bed and saw the blood. Once Manmit Dhillon fell he does not believe that he was moved. He believes that Manmit Dhillon fell on his own.
xi. He thought that everyone ran out of the room for a few seconds.
xii. He didn’t see any weapons at any time. He did not see any stabbing.
xiii. He agreed that he would become aggressive when he was younger when drinking. He would not agree that Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon would also get aggressive when drinking.
xiv. He recalls no conflict in 808 after Jashanvir Sandhu left the room.
xv. Before he heard the big bang there was no yelling and arguing, no tension and no reason to fight.
xvi. He agrees that he told the police that he had been lying on the bed “in and out”, heard a big bang and saw Manmit Dhillon falling down. He agreed that he did not tell the police that he saw them hugging.
xvii. He agreed that it was at trial for the first time, he said that Manmit Dhillon, said “He stabbed me, he stabbed me”. He did not say that at the preliminary hearing or to the police when giving his statement.
xviii. He agreed that he is really not sure if there was play fighting or hugging because he didn’t see what happened by the mirror and did not see the stabbing. The first thing he saw was Manmit Dhillon fall on the ground and he could not see Jeetinder Gill.
xix. It was suggested to him that what started as a verbal argument in that room involving Sanjay Philip and Manmit Dhillon, led to Ramnik Dhillon, himself and Jeetinder Gill getting involved. He does not remember that happening. He denies that he, Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Sanjay Phillip attacked Jeetinder Gill.
xx. Ramnik Dhillon told him that when he went towards the elevator, Jeetinder Gill was swinging at him with a knife which cut him. He has no reason to disagree that this exchange is not in his police statement.
xxi. He denied that he had spoken to the other witnesses about the details of what happened. They were talking more about how things had gone and what had happened in court. They never talked about their testimony.
xxii. He confirmed that he, Ramnik Dhillon and Manmit Dhillon used cocaine back in highschool.
Analysis of the Evidence of Amritpal Chahil
[40] It is significant that Amritpal Chahil, along with Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon, testified that Jeetinder Gill spontaneously and for no reason began stabbing Manmit Dhillon as they lovingly hugged at the door after a conflict free and joyous reunion. Sanjay Philip’s evidence of the fight contradicts this and is supported by the evidence of Jolene Nye which is also corroborated by Bai Bunpanyal.
[41] Amritpal Chahil acknowledged in his evidence from his location of lying on the bed that there was a blind spot from his location. The photographs confirm that there is no sight line to allow a person at the balcony end of the room, including someone lying on the bed, to see the corridor or the mirrored closet. I agree with Ms. Greenspan’s comment that in order to see down the corridor to the mirrored closet “you would have to have vision that can bend around corners”.
[42] Amritpal Chahil confirmed that after the stabbing Ramnik Dhillon “blows right past” his brother and chases Jeetinder Gill who has run out the door. This contradicts what I agree is the “made up” evidence of Ramnik Dhillon who said that he caught his brother just in time and placed him gently on the ground far away from the closet.
[43] Amritpal Chahil does not recall most of the night after the banquet because he was escorted by the police out of Moxie’s for drunkenness and blacked out in 1121 until 8:45 a.m. When he got to 808 he was lying on the bed closest to the balcony dozing. He agreed that the dozing was related to the effects of alcohol.
[44] For the first time at trial, Amritpal Chahil adopted Ramnik Dhillon’s evidence that Manmit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill were hugging and that there was no yelling or anything going on like that. Amritpal Chahil never mentioned hugging in his police statement. He maintained throughout his cross‑examination that he could see the hugging before the loud bang into the mirror. When asked if because of the corner, whether he could see what was happening from his location on the bed, he confirmed no. This evidence undermines the evidence of Ramnik Dhillon who said he could see around the corner, which is just a lie.
[45] Amritpal Chahil confirmed that Manmit Dhillon fell in the middle of the room where the bloodstain is seen in the photos and that Ramnik Dhillon did not help him down.
[46] Amritpal Chahil confirmed that Ramnik Dhillon did not go into the mirror, did not bounce off it clearly contradicting what was a “tortured account” from Ramnik Dhillon of running to his brother’s aid, catching him and gently guiding him to the floor. Ramnik Dhillon’s evidence on this point is, as was described by counsel, torturous.
[47] Amritpal Chahil’s trial evidence was that Manmit Dhillon told him “he stabbed me, he stabbed me” which is critically different from his previous evidence that Manmit Dhillon said ‘I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed”. This is made up trying to pin the stabbing on Jeetinder Gill. Amritpal Chahil admits that he had spoken with Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon about what happened. This undermines the evidence of Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon who claim to have never spoken about what happened, close brothers who live together.
[48] Amritpal Chahil was told by Ramnik Dhillon that after he went after Jeetinder Gill, Jeetinder Gill “pulled out a knife and tried to stab him too” and that Ramnik Dhillon told him this was how his hand was cut. Most importantly Ramnik Dhillon told him this before the police arrived. There is no mention of Amritpal Chahil telling the police about this conversation with Ramnik Dhillon.
[49] Amritpal Chahil testified as to Manmit Dhillon’s use of cocaine “back in the day”. Manmit Dhillon’s ridiculous evidence was that he did not know whether he had taken cocaine in his life at all, one way or another.
[50] Amritpal Chahil did not call 911. He called the front desk and asked for an ambulance. This certainly raises a question as to why he would not have called 911. The inference which I draw is that he did not want the police to come to that room.
[51] Jashanvir Sandhu testified as follows:
i. He went to high school with the Dhillon brothers. Their parents were friends.
ii. In 2016 they were basically like brothers, very very close living in the same neighbourhood.
iii. He met Sanjay Philip through Ramnik Dhillon with whom he became good friends and helped him get a job.
iv. He has known Amritpal Chahil since grade 9 and he was a close friend.
v. They were all very close until this incident.
vi. There was a function at the Forum Banquet Hall which he attended with Sanjay Philip. The two of them left and went to the hotel where he had booked a suite.
vii. The purpose of the suite was for the after party.
viii. He thought that Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon arrived between 1:00 to 2:00 a.m. They had invited other individuals.
ix. He bought alcohol from the bar downstairs. There was other alcohol.
x. He did not know Jeetinder Gill and had no information about his attending. This was the first time he met him.
xi. There were no incidents upon Jeetinder Gill’s arrival. There was a great atmosphere and everyone was happy. He didn’t expect anything to happen like what did.
xii. He knew that there were some issues between Jeetinder Gill and the Dhillon brothers in high school but did not know the extent of the issues.
xiii. He booked a second room and went to that room because he wanted to sleep.
xiv. He never counted his alcohol consumption. He was okay in terms of sobriety. He smoked some marijuana. He did not do cocaine.
xv. He had gone back to the first room to sleep. He did not leave 808 because of any incident.
xvi. Sanjay Philip came upstairs and told him that Mini (Manmit Dhillon) “has just been stabbed”. When he went downstairs, the hotel staff and paramedics were present.
xvii. Before he left 808 everything was good. Manmit Dhillon and Jeetinder Gill were hugging.
xviii. He did not see any weapons at any time.
xix. There is a receipt from Moxie’s which he paid for about $390 including 20 to 25 orders of rye.
xx. After the incident he realized that what brought them together starting as teenagers was alcohol consumption.
xxi. He did not see Mini at the hospital. His parents split them up. It was not good because they were close families. There was a lot of blame placed on him for renting the rooms.
xxii. Jeetinder Gill seemed to be a gentleman and everything seemed peace and love. He has no recollection of Jeetinder Gill being in the first room.
xxiii. He agreed that he left to go smoke some cigarettes or marijuana and that he was not in the rooms at all times.
Analysis of the Evidence of Jashanvir Sandhu
i. Jashanvir Sandhu was not present in 808 at the time of the incident
ii. Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon both downplayed their alcohol consumption dramatically on that evening. It is significant that Jashanvir Sandhu discontinued all contact with Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon after the incident because he realized that their relationship was about alcohol. Jashanvir Sandhu was a straightforward believable witness.
[52] Jolene Nye’s transcript includes the following evidence:
i. Jolene Nye was staying at the Sandman Hotel on the 8 th floor on the night of February 13, 2016.
ii. In the early morning hours she was awakened to what sounded like a large party happening in the room next to her. It was so loud she could hear men speaking.
iii. The men were speaking very fast and loud and sounded like they were talking over each other, speaking in a language she didn’t understand. It sounded like it was Punjabi or Urdu or something spoken in the East Indian culture. It was loud and very clear.
iv. It had gone on for such a long time that she contacted the front desk to make a noise complaint.
v. The partying continued but it quieted down and she fell back to sleep.
vi. She woke up again to hear the loud partying.
vii. She recorded it because she didn’t want the front desk to think that she was exaggerating.
viii. She went down to the front desk and played them the recording.
ix. When she came out of the room to go to the front desk there was a man standing at the door of the room next door. She was too concerned/nervous to speak to him. That man was darker skinned, East Indian, tall, very well dressed, wearing a long black coat. It looked like he was coming from the outside.
x. After she went back to her room she heard a very loud crash and a man yelled the word “Fuck”, and to her it sounded like somebody got thrown through a coffee table.
xi. She immediately called the front desk and said, look, somebody has gotten seriously hurt.
xii. A few minutes later the manager called and told her that an ambulance and police were on the way and that she was to stay in her room.
xiii. After she was told to stay in her room she looked through the keyhole and saw a man very upset speaking in English asking where the ambulance was. (She can’t say if that person was the same person she saw earlier).
xiv. They were very loud, hollering, yelling, screaming, and swearing.
xv. She believes that she sent the recordings on her phone to the police. Her statement to the police confirms recordings at 6:33 a.m., 7:06 a.m. and 10:25 a.m. She recalls hearing the loud noises, screaming and talking before the big noise when she thought somebody was being hurt.
The analysis of the Evidence of Jolene Nye
i. Jolene Nye recalled several episodes of aggressive and loud shouting, yelling and commotion in 808 starting at 6:00 a.m. and continuing periodically up to moments before the incident when she heard what sounded like somebody being thrown through a coffee table. She was concerned for her safety by the tone and aggressiveness of the speech and noises coming from 809. She reported it to the front desk and took three audio recordings on her phone. Her evidence about a fight is corroborated by Bunpanyal Bai. Her evidence undermines the evidence of Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Amritpal Chahil that it was all “peace and love” in 808. I have already found their evidence to be unbelievable, untruthful and absurd. It further corroborates the evidence of Sanjay Philip who gave evidence at his discovery of a fight taking place in 808 including his involvement.
[53] Bunpanyal Bai testified as follows:
i. He was working at the Sandman Signature Hotel on February 14, 2016 and he received a phone call from a female guest in 809 at around 10:30 a.m.
ii. The call was a noise complaint which had been going on for some time with the noise escalating. She felt it may be a fight. He confirmed the three calls from 809, the earlier ones being received by the night manager.
iii. He went to the 8th floor, stepped out of the elevator, saw blood in the hall and followed the blood to room 808. There was no blood in the elevator or lobby. He was accompanied by two employees because of the concern about fighting.
iv. In 808 there was a man lying on the floor with a wound on his chest. Towels were being applied to his chest. The glass closet door was smashed.
v. He believes that four other guys besides the guy on the floor were in the room.
vi. In cross-examination he confirmed that 809 had reported a first noise complaint around 6:00 a.m. and that the complaint was taken by the night manager.
vii. He received a call from 809 asking for an ambulance. He called 911 at 10:36 a.m. (confirmed with the 911 log).
viii. The individual in 809 told him that she had heard swearing and fighting from 808.
ix. Exhibits 16 and 17 are crude maps of the layout of the 8th and 11 th floors. The exit doors would be always open (unlocked) on each floor.
x. He is aware of an earlier incident at Moxie’s and thought it might have been the same people. People had been kicked out of Moxie’s because there had been a fight.
The Analysis of the Evidence of Bai Bunpanyal
i. Bai Bunpanyal’s evidence is important and significant as it corroborates Jolene Nye’s evidence about her reporting noise complaints from 808 three times. Bai Bunpanyal’s evidence corroborates Jolene Nye’s evidence that a fight occurred in 808. This evidence undermines the evidence of Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon and Amritpal Chahil that it was all “peace and love” in 808. I have already found their evidence to be unreliable, untruthful and absurd. It further corroborates the evidence of Sanjay Philip of a fight taking place in 808.
[54] David Baker testified as follows:
i. On February 14, 2016 at about 10:50 a.m. he was called to the Sandman Hotel. His partner was driving the ambulance.
ii. They met with the staff in the lobby and were directed to room 808. They were accompanied by one staff and one security.
iii. The door was open and a police officer was at the side of the room.
iv. The patient was directly in front of them lying supine with someone holding onto a wound with a towel.
v. He noticed a broken mirror with fragments of glass on the floor.
vi. He asked the guy holding the towel to release the towel which he did.
vii. He exposed his torso and he had a large gaping hole in the left side of his chest. It went down through the chest wall. He also had a deep cut in the left elbow area and some smaller stab wounds to his torso.
viii. He asked for the advanced care unit to attend because they needed. IV lines and pain relief medications.
ix. He saw no object that would have caused those injuries.
x. He thinks that there were at least three individuals in the room apart from the police. He had to get them to move out of the way. It took some convincing to get them to step aside.
xi. There was a man who was sitting with a wrapped up hand.
xii. He probably asked what had happened and he believes he was told that the injured person had fallen into the mirror and got the cuts. That sounded bizarre to him as it did not look like cuts.
xiii. At some point as he was leaving he heard someone say that the person had been stabbed and had gone back into the room and that there was a trail of blood. He has no knowledge as to how the trail of blood was caused.
xiv. He looked at the guy with the hand wound very briefly. The guy told him to help his friend. He later found out that another crew had gone to the hotel and had attended to him.
xv. There is a note of the assessment of the hand wound that it was spurting blood and that there was a half-inch deep cut to the bone. It is not his note and maybe it was done by the other paramedics who had attended.
Analysis of the Evidence of David Baker
[55] David Baker testified that when he got to room 808 the group were impeding his access to MD.” We asked them to sort of move out of the way, and it took a little bit of… convincing for them to step aside’. This undermines RD’s testimony who said that when the EMS attended “I just kind of backed off and just let them take over”.
[56] David Barker’s evidence is also important as he said that the group was being unresponsive to questions he was asking as to what happened, and that one or more were suggesting that Manmit Dhillon’s wounds were caused by falling into the mirror which did not correspond with Manmit Dhillon’s wounds.
[57] David Barker also confirmed that he did not see any blood in the elevator or hotel lobby and that the first signs of blood were after stepping out of the elevator.
Conclusion
[58] The Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Jeetinder Gill has committed an attempted murder, nor has he proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Jeetinder Gill has committed the included offence of aggravated assault. I am not analyzing self‑defence because of the Crown’s concession that I need not do so if I do not find that Jeetinder Gill committed the stabbing beyond a reasonable doubt. I do not have a clue as to what happened in the room where the stabbing occurred.
[59] As set out in the agreed statement of fact the police investigation was not complete. I accept that based on the information they had received, they did not think that further investigation was necessary. The police did not search the hotel stairwells which provided access directly from the 8 th to the 11 th floor. The police did not search the hotel grounds below the balcony of room 808 for possible weapons. The police did not search Ramnik Dhillon, Amritpal Chahil, Sanjay Philip or Jashanvir Sandhu for weapons. No blood found in room 808 was sent for analysis. The police did not conduct an exhaustive search of the two involved rooms for hidden knives.
[60] Although it was unfortunate that Sanjay Philip could never be located and was not available for the trial, I was provided with excerpts of his police statement and his discovery evidence. I accept his evidence with respect to the altercation that took place in room 808. I do not believe and accept the evidence given by Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon, and Amritpal Chahil as to a situation of “peace and love” in room 808 and the unprovoked and inexplicable hugging turned stabbing. I accept Sanjay Philip’s evidence that Jeetinder Gill was being attacked by the four in the room and was running for his life.
[61] Manmit Dhillon has no credibility and his evidence is unreliable. It is very significant that his blood alcohol level was three times over the legal limit. He has a criminal record and criminal charges involving violence. His evidence was self‑serving and his memory selective. His evidence concerning the incident itself is so inherently implausible that it’s totally absurd. Ramnik Dhillon similarly has no credibility as his evidence is unreliable. His evidence was unbelievable.
[62] Amritpal Chahil, also has no credibility and his evidence is unreliable. He was also consuming copious amounts of alcohol and cocaine. I find that his acknowledgement that he could not see around the corner as he was lying on the bed to be realistic. He did not easily come to that acknowledgement. I rely on that acknowledgement to find that Ramnik Dhillon is not truthful. It is not possible that he has eyesight that can see through walls and around corners.
[63] Jashanvir Sandhu was a believable witness. I accept his evidence as to the amount of alcohol being consumed by the individuals including himself and that he ended his relationship with Manmit Dhillon and Ramnik Dhillon because he realized that their relationship was entirely based on alcohol.
[64] Jolene Nye’s evidence was helpful and it corroborated Sanjay Philip’s evidence that there was a fight taking place in 808. She confirmed yelling, screaming, and swearing ending up with a very loud crash that to her sounded like somebody was thrown through a coffee table (the mirror). Her evidence was corroborated by Bai Bunpanyal. The evidence of both Jolene Nye and Bai Bunpanyal undermines the evidence of Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon, and Amritpal Chahil that it was all “peace and love” in 808. That evidence from Manmit Dhillon, Ramnik Dhillon, and Amritpal Chahil is unreliable, untruthful and absurd.
[65] David Baker’s evidence was helpful in that he confirmed that when he got to room 808 it took some convincing to get the individuals to step away from the body. That may of course be understandable as one of those individuals was the injured person’s brother and the other two were friends. David Baker’s evidence was also helpful in that he was able to confirm the extent of the injury suffered by Ramnik Dhillon who underplayed his injury (in an attempt to minimize any involvement in a melee).
[66] I wish to thank counsel for their assistance in this matter. All counsel were helpful, reasonable and fair. This was a difficult case for the Crown particularly when a material witness went on “the lam”. The Crown was extremely fair in not “pushing” this as an attempted murder and further by acknowledging that, if I did not find he had proven the stabbing was done by Jeetinder Gill beyond a reasonable doubt that I need not analyze self‑defence.
[67] There is an acquittal entered on this indictment.
Justice J.E. Ferguson Released: November 6, 2018