The brother of the late Smoke Dawg was acquitted in trial on first-degree murder charges. A Toronto jury determined Andrew Douglas acted in self-defense when he fatally struck Michael Lewis with several bullets.
A jury handed down their verdict on Saturday after the prosecution and defense rested their case. Toronto prosecutors told the jury that Douglas was armed when he went to a memorial barbecue in early September 2018 when he murdered Lewis. They claimed Douglas's intention when he went to the event was to kill Lewis for allegedly disrespecting Smoke Dawg. The prosecution said that Douglas shot Lewis dead within six minutes of arriving at the barbecue.
Three witnesses took the stand. Two of them alleged that Douglas shot Lewis in the head after the victim was on the ground. Another witness claimed Lewis was being held by the collar by Douglas when he was shot again.
Richard Posner, the lawyer who represented Douglas, said that his client wasn't seeking revenge when he went to the barbecue. Posner pointed to evidence that showed Lewis was paranoid after he stole his chain back from Smoke Dawg and confronted Douglas.
Posner explained that a large part of the self-defense argument was based in Douglas's testimony that he fought Lewis for the gun before using it to unload six bullets into him. Posner also pointed out a 60-pound weight difference between Lewis and Douglas, as well as footage of Douglas using cologne before the event.
"You don’t want to smell good and sexy if you’re going to kill somebody,” said Posner.
The jury was deadlocked during three days of deliberations before asking for eyewitness accounts of the shooting. Ultimately, they decided that Douglas acted in self-defense.
While Douglas might be acquitted in this trial, he's currently serving an eight-year sentence for armed home invasion and robbery, which he was convicted of in 2019. However, Posner said the trial was under appeal.
Smoke Dawg was shot and killed in July 2018 in Toronto. Earlier this year, Abdulkadir Handule was convicted of second-degree murder in connection to Smoke Dawg's death.