Trial begins for accused in Cooper death
Man pleads not guilty to beating woman outside her home
Last Updated: Monday, May 31, 2010 | 8:16 PM CST
CBC News
A jury trial has begun for a Winnipeg man accused in the brutal beating death of a woman outside her West End home.
The man, who can't be identified because he was 15 at the time he was charged in the death of Audrey Cooper, pleaded not guilty on Monday to second-degree murder.
The Crown and the man's lawyer agree that Cooper, 34, was beaten as she stood outside her home at 548 Spence St. on Oct. 21, 2006.
The issue is whether he participated in the beating, and if so, if played a "meaningful and significant role" in it, Justice Holly Beard told the eight-man, four-woman jury.
Cooper's death caused outrage in the West End and in the Manitoba legislature, where some politicians called for parents to be held accountable for criminal acts committed by their children.
The trial is slated to last three weeks, but Beard said it may proceed into July.
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the man faces a maximum sentence of four years in custody and three years of community supervision.
He has been behind bars since his arrest a few days after Cooper died.
The Crown has not indicated whether it will seek an adult sentence in the case if the jury finds the man guilty.
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