A man accused of committing murder at the Horseshoe Bay car park three years ago should be judged strictly on “facts” presented in court, his defence counsel argued yesterday.

Charles Richardson, representing Eze Hart, also told the jury that the Crown did not provide sufficient evidence to prove his client guilty of the murder of Kanye Ford.

Mr Hart, 22, has denied murdering Mr Ford, 16, on September 9, 2022.

Mr Richardson told the jury in his closing statement: “I want you to look at the environment that these prosecution witnesses created and described.”

He said the context “completely supports” the defence’s theory that Mr Ford’s death was the result of a “tragic accident”.

Jurors heard that the Crown’s witnesses, Jansen Smith and Elijah Smith, were in a group that consumed multiple shots of alcohol and “joints of marijuana” before a confrontation that led to Mr Ford’s death.

He said neither of the two men could have recounted what the other was doing at the scene of the incident, but “created their own conditions of diminished capacity”.

Mr Richardson contrasted this with defence witness Adia Gibbons, who told the court that she did not consume any alcohol that night.

Jurors were told that Mr Hart and Ms Gibbons presented a plausible account of a fight that ended in a “self-created disaster”.

Mr Richardson maintained that Elijah Smith and Jansen Smith had conspired in presenting their evidence to the court, and accused them of being “liars before they were put onto the stand”.

He reminded the court that his client had gone to Horseshoe Bay for a friend’s going-away party, and that what unfolded was not a “premeditated act of violence”.

He said it was a fight sparked by a group, including Jansen Smith and Elijah Smith, that was “looking to cause trouble”.

He said: “They were the aggressors, they were the chaos.”

He reminded the jury that the court heard that the two witnesses came with knives and wore ski masks.

He also said the court did not hear that Mr Hart had a knife during the confrontation that led to Mr Ford’s death.

“Are you sure Eze had a knife?” he urged the jury to consider in their deliberations.

He told the jury that his client could not be convicted unless they were “sure” he killed Mr Ford.

The defence counsel urged them to find his client not guilty, adding that “he was a good kid” who “deserved to be judged on the facts”.

The trial continues.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers