Dashti murder trial goes to the jury

A jury is now deliberating whether Patrick Smith is guilty of first degree murder of Elham Dashti.

She was in her High Times store in downtown Hamilton in May of 2010, when she was killed. Smith has admitted to the death, but insists it was not intentional. Smith’s lawyer says he was coming down from a drug and alcohol binge, was paranoid and impulsive, and didn’t know his own strength, when he dragged her downstairs, wrapped a scarf around her neck and beat her. The Crown says if you intend to injure someone to such a degree that it’s likely to kill them, you are guilty of murder.