‘You are trying to help convict this guy’: Defence in Pitter trial says witness ‘softened’ account of accused’s skin colour

Jayden Pitter is the one on trial for shooting a seven-year old boy, but it was the shadow of his alleged partner in crime, Mohd Amiri, that loomed over the case Tuesday in court.

I'm going to show you a photo," said defence lawyer Scott Reid to a witness. It is Mr. Amiri. This male is light-skinned ... I'm going to suggest this is exactly the skin tone of the person you saw, agreed?"

The witness, Taylor McNally, testified that the man she saw enter a car soon after the shooting at about 8 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2020, in fact had darker skin.

Cross-examining McNally for nearly three hours before a jury, Reid repeatedly parsed the skin colour descriptions she had given police and in court.

He said she changed her account of having seen a white-Caucasian, light-skinned or Mideastern" looking man, to a dark-skinned Black man," after she saw Pitter on screen during a preliminary hearing held on Zoom last year.

But McNally said she achieved greater clarity on the darker-hued skin of the man over several months, after seeing a therapist.

You are trying to help the prosecution convict this guy," said Reid. You are softening your view on the colour of the culprit's skin."

Tearing up at times on the stand, McNally countered that she is telling the truth, and is only trying to help: If I saw something I need to come forward."

Amiri will be tried for his alleged role in the shooting at a later date; the Crown has said it will call him as a witness in Pitter's trial.

Both men are charged with aggravated assault and intentionally discharging a firearm. The boy survived after having a bullet removed from his hip joint.

A second witness said she saw the rear driver's side door of the alleged getaway car fling open, and a man dive into the back. From what she could see of his face, she said, the skin was white.

Meanwhile, a Hamilton police officer testified about surveillance conducted on Pitter three days after the shooting.

Det. Const. Greg Blunsdon described following Pitter and two other men, who drove from a house on Hillview Street in the Ainslie Wood neighbourhood to Brampton, where they stopped at an apartment complex and a McDonald's drive-thru.

The trial continues Wednesday with cellphone data expected to be introduced by the Crown.

Jon Wells is a feature writer at The Spectator. jwells@thespec.com