Defence challenges credibility of key prosecution witness in Brandon overdose death trial
Hailey Lepine has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in 2020 death of Michael Crede
A Brandon woman charged with manslaughter in a 2020 overdose death testified on Thursday it's been months since she saw or spoke with the woman who has accused her of selling bad drugs, contradicting testimony from the key prosecution witness.
"Have I ever sold a drug to anyone? No," Hailey Lepine, 25, said from the witness box on the third and final day of testimony at her trial in the Court of Kings Bench in Brandon.
Prosecutors argue Lepine sold the drugs that led to Michael Crede's overdose death in July 2020.
Crede's girlfriend, Chrissy Nepinak, 33, testified on Tuesday that Crede began to shake and foam at the mouth before becoming unresponsive after they split a gram of MDMA (ecstasy) sold by Lepine.
Lepine, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence and unlawfully trafficking a controlled substance, with prosecutors alleging she provided the drugs knowing it to be a dangerous substance that caused Crede's death.
She testified that she had dated Nepinak's brother for five years before a bad breakup at the end of 2019 when she found out he had been cheating. She said she also had a falling out with Nepinak over an alleged drug debt.
"We shared social, like, groups, but not, like, social drugs," Lepine said.
Because of the hostility with Nepinak and her brother, she hadn't spoken with either of them in the months leading up to Crede's death, Lepine testified.
She denied ever selling or providing drugs to Nepinak.
Lepine told the court she was so removed from Nepinak's social circle she didn't learn about Crede's death until December 2020 when she was arrested by police.
"I just remember getting threatened by the cops saying I was going in for murder," Lepine said.
Sharply contrasting theories
In his closing argument Crown prosecutor Rich Longstrup argued Lepine sold the drugs that led to Crede's death.
He told the court the purchase of drugs wasn't about being friends, it was a transaction.
"You don't automatically gravitate towards the drug dealer who has the highest Yelp review. You don't go running towards the person who happens to be your family member," Longstrup said.
Lepine's lawyer argued his client had been wrongfully accused, and said the drugs came from Nepinak's brother.
Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn told Judge Elliot Leven the case comes down to whose version of events to believe: "This is as basic as it can get. Miss Nepinak was lying, Miss Lepine was not."
He argued Nepinak is the only person tying Lepine to Crede's death, arguing that made her a disreputable and unsavoury witness so her word alone was not enough to find Lepine guilty.
Longstrup countered Nepinak was there to tell the truth, "warts and all."
"She made the ultimate admission. She administered the drug that killed her boyfriend," Longstrup said."She is still living with this. She shared it openly and painfully."
He argued that Nepinak gave a name to police after being told it could help save lives by getting the drug that killed Crede off the streets, and took the risk of being labelled a rat by providing the information.
Synyshyn argued that Nepinak provided evidence that she used drugs regularly with Crede, had a sibling who is a drug dealer, was found with drug paraphernalia in her home and did nothing to help Crede when he was in medical distress.
"It was only when she realized that either she would be in trouble because these drugs killed Mr. Crede or that her brother would be in trouble [that] she gave Miss Lepine's name," Synyshyn said.
Leven has reserved his decision to a later date. Lepine was released most recently on bail in January.
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