Stay supporters accused of harassing defence counsel outside Dartmouth murder trialPublished Jun 17, 2025 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 3 minute readDefence lawyer Michael Lacy leaves Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Dartmouth on Tuesday during a break in the judge’s instructions to the jury at Adam Drake’s second-degree murder trial. Lacy complained in court about intimidation tactics by supporters of victim Pat Stay. Photo by Ryan TaplinMichael Lacy has been a criminal defence lawyer for 28 years and says you have to have thick skin to do the job.But he has never seen anything like the intimidation tactics he’s experienced the past few days outside client Adam Joseph Drake’s murder trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Dartmouth.Drake is charged with second-degree murder in the Sept. 4, 2022, stabbing death of Dartmouth battle rapper.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentBefore Justice Scott Norton gave the jury final instructions Tuesday, Lacy rose to address the judge “on some matters that have been happening that need to be part of the court record.”The Toronto lawyer said he was accosted by a man outside the Mellor Avenue courthouse Friday after the Crown made its closing arguments. Global News reported the man spat on Lacy.On Monday, after the jury heard the defence’s closing submissions, another Stay supporter allegedly tried to block Lacy and co-counsel Jennifer MacDonald’s vehicles in the courthouse parking lot.Lacy told the court the man – “one of the thugs from the mob of misinformed” – followed the lawyers’ vehicles after they left the property. He said the man drove aggressively and impeded MacDonald’s vehicle when she tried to keep up with Lacy.The lawyers called 911 after they pulled into a parking lot of a restaurant in Dartmouth Crossing and the man kept circling the lot.Article contentSeveral video clips the lawyers recorded of the man were filed with the court.“Thuggery and attempted intimidation of participants in the justice system have no place inside the ccourthouse, on the courthouse steps or outside the courthouse, away from the courthouse,” Lacy said.“And it’s not just judges, jurors, the Crowns – it’s also the defence lawyers. They have to be able to carry out their obligations without being harassed, intimidated, physically accosted, followed away from the courthouse.”He pointed out that the intimidation outside the exit of the courthouse happened “under the watchful eye of video cameras and sheriffs.“This is the kind of thing that happened the last two days in this trial,” Lacy said. “And I didn’t raise this with your lordship on Monday. I certainly don’t believe it’s affected my or Ms. MacDonald’s task in doing what we think we need to do for Mr. Drake in defence of him at this trial.”Article contentBut he said what happened on Friday might very well have forced a lawyer “with lesser wherewithal” to inform the judge they couldn’t carry on with the trial.“This is the lengths to which people are going in this case to try to intimidate people who are doing their job,” he said. “And why do I raise this now? Well, because the same doors that we exited through are the doors that the jurors exited through, both on Friday and on Monday.“The concern now, though, is what do we know about whether the jurors were exposed to this? Did they see this as they were leaving the courthouse on Friday? Did they see it (Monday)? Did they see the guy, the hothead moronic person who had already threatened me during a pretrial motion and had been arrested and cautioned and who I chose not to bring charges against then?”Lacy said that although he did not want to become a complainant, “it occurred to me that we can’t just, as defence lawyers, nor as participants in the justice system, not have a record of what has happened to this point.Article content“Frankly, it’s unacceptable and it shouldn’t happen. Defence lawyers don’t need to be subjected to the utter nonsense that is being perpetrated. And whether it’s a few, or the mob that films them while they’re doing it, it’s unacceptable, and I need to raise it with the court.”The judge granted a recess during his instructions so the Crown and defence lawyers could review courthouse surveillance videos together to see if jurors had witnessed either incident.After counsel determined no jurors appeared to have seen the events in question, Norton resumed his instructions. The jury began deliberating at about 2 p.m.A lawyer who was at the courthouse Monday to observe the defence’s closing arguments witnessed what happened in the parking lot afterward and was outraged.“It’s disgraceful,” she told The Chronicle Herald. “Cops should have been there, Crown should have addressed it before, and sheriffs should have cleared them out before it came to that.“I’ve never witnessed anything like that.”Article content
Drake lawyer complains of ‘thuggery and attempted intimidation’
