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A man on trial for murder hugged his lawyer Friday when a jury found him not guilty in the death of a stranger during a violent struggle for a handgun.
Frederick Leon left court a free man following a monthlong second-degree murder trial in the death, from blunt force trauma, of 30-year-old Jovan Burgher.
“This is a huge relief for him,” defence lawyer Morrie Luft told the Windsor Star afterwards. “The last couple of years have obviously been very difficult. He spent about six months in custody before he was released on bail. He was on a strict house arrest ever since. A lot has changed in his life since then, and he’s of course very relieved to go forward with his life.”
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Assistant Crown attorney Iain Skelton did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday following the hearing, which was broadcast over Zoom.
Closing arguments in the trial that began May 13 before Superior Court Justice Brian Dube took all day Wednesday.
The jury began deliberations in the second-degree murder trial Thursday afternoon, following a 143-page instruction from Superior Court Justice Brian Dube.
They had three options to consider: guilty of second-degree murder, not guilty of second-degree murder, or guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter.
The 12-person jury returned with a verdict around 12:15 p.m. Friday. As the foreperson stated the jury had found him not guilty, Leon embraced his lawyer.
“Mr. Leon, you are free to leave,” Dube told Leon moments later.
Jurors heard during the trial Leon and Burgher, who were strangers, both happened to be visiting a couple at a house in the 500 block of McEwan Avenue on May 18, 2021.
Leon, 26 at the time, had recently lost his job and moved from Toronto to Windsor the previous week to sell drugs for his cousin, Prince Charles.
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Luft told court his client went to the kitchen for some water and encountered Burgher. A confrontation ensued.
The defence argued Burgher pulled out a handgun, stuck it to Leon’s cheek and pulled the trigger.
Leon dropped to the floor and the other three occupants in the apartment bolted. Luft told court that one of the residents thought Leon was killed in the moment.
But Leon rose to his feet and head-butted Burgher. In a clash for the gun, the two men busted through a back door, across a deck, down a set of stairs and into the alley.
The struggle lasted several minutes. It was bloody. A forensic pathologist estimated during trial that Burgher lost nearly half his blood from more than 23 lacerations to his face, head, and neck.
Burgher went into cardiac arrest and died three days later.
The prosecution argued Leon repeatedly struck Burgher after he’d been disarmed and was down on the ground. The defence argued Leon was “acting in self-defence at all times.”
At the time of his death, Burgher was on bail pending drug trafficking charges and was under court order to always be in the presence of his surety.
Burgher, who was still conscious when police arrived, gave officers a false name.
Leon and his cousin, Prince Charles, were initially both charged with first-degree murder.
The trial heard that after initially fleeing, Charles returned to the scene during the struggle between Leon and Burgher.
During closing arguments, the defence said Charles delivered “repeated kicks to the head” while Burgher was on the ground.
Charles’s trial is still pending.
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