THUNDER BAY – A judge has found that the man accused in the 2022 death of 28-year-old John Mark Reuben was acting in self-defence when a drug deal escalated into a physical altercation and fatal stabbing.
Joseph Hubbard, 26, pleaded not guilty to the charge of second-degree murder at the start of the three-day trial that opened on April 22, before Justice Tracey Nieckarz.
Nieckarz delivered her verdict in a Thunder Bay courtroom late Friday afternoon, finding the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hubbard’s actions did not constitute self-defence when he stabbed Reuben once in the chest.
During the trial, the Crown called four witnesses to testify and shared body-worn camera footage of responding Thunder Bay Police Service officers.
The evidence detailed police responding to an apartment on the 900 block of Miles Street East in the early morning hours of June 24, 2022 for reports of an injured male.
Responding officers located the man, later identified as Reuben, in the entranceway to the apartment building.
Hubbard was standing over Reuben talking to a 911 dispatcher and he can be heard telling the officer that he needed to help Reuben.
The officer placed Hubbard under arrest at the scene without incident.
The court heard the 911 call made by Hubbard, during which he said Reuben, who he did not know but had met that night and agreed to sell drugs to, attempted to rob him inside his apartment.
Hubbard testified in his own defence at trial, telling the court that Reuben sprayed him in the face with body spray after he sold him the drugs and a struggle ensued inside the apartment.
At one point, Reuben grabbed a knife from the kitchen. As the struggle continued, Hubbard gained control of the knife and stabbed him once in the chest.
Reuben fled but collapsed at the bottom of the stairs leading out of the apartment and Hubbard called 911.
A post-mortem examination determined Reuben died from severe blood loss due to the knife penetrating his heart.
It was conceded at the start of the trial that Hubbard caused Reuben’s death by stabbing him in the chest and Nieckarz was to determine if the death was lawful or unlawful.
“With respect to murder, a person commits a homicide when they cause the death of another person,” Nieckarz said. “Homicide may be culpable or not culpable. Homicide that is not culpable is not an offence. Culpable is when the death of another is caused by an unlawful act.”
While Nieckarz said she did take issue with some of Hubbard’s evidence presented during his testimony, she said his explanation of the events that morning were plausible, and called him a credible witness who was not shaken during cross-examination.
“When I consider the accounts of the accused in the context of the totality of the evidence, I am left with doubt,” she said. “I find the Crown has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that this was not committed in self-defence.”
According to Nieckarz, there was no evidence to suggest it was Hubbard who initiated the altercation, and that it was reasonable to believe he feared for his safety and life when Reuben grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
Furthermore, Nieckarz referenced Hubbard giving Reuben more drugs than the $15 he paid in an attempt to earn his future business.
“It makes no sense Hubbard would try to ingratiate himself with Reuben and then turn around and try to kill him for no reason,” she said. “Based on evidence of the accused, I do accept, viewed in the context of all the evidence, that Reuben initiated the attack against Hubbard that then escalated.”
During the trial, the Crown argued Hubbard could have taken other actions to deescalate the situation, such as calling the police, leaving the apartment, or just using the knife to threaten Reuben.
“While I agree these were available options, I also agree with the defence that this was a fast-moving situation,” Nieckarz said. “There was no time to stop and evaluate what was happening.”
Neickarz referred to Hubbard only stabbing Reuben once, as well as his testimony that he believed it to be in Reuben’s stomach, as demonstrating that the use of force was not excessive.
“I accept Hubbard unintentionally hit the heart instead of the stomach,” Nieckarz said.
“I am not prepared to say it was unreasonable in the circumstance for Hubbard to use the knife to stab Reuben. Tragically that wound was a fatal wound.”
Ultimately, Nieckarz found Hubbard acted in self-defence and is therefore not guilty of second-degree murder.
“In weighing all the factors and considering the evidence in the case, the Crown has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a reasonable person in the situation would have acted reasonably different,” she said.
Nieckarz expressed her condolences to Reuben’s family and reminded them that despite what was heard at trial, it is not to suggest that he was a bad person.
She also addressed Hubbard, telling him that he appears to be an intelligent and articulate person, and that he has been lucky twice, first the night of June 24 when he was not killed and then again at trial when a judge accepted his testimony.
