'He’s earned this': Windsor-Essex jury asked for mercy for convicted killer

Ali Al-Shammari, 38, isn’t eligible to ask for parole until 2029, but he wants to apply now.

A Windsor jury of nine women and five men has been selected to make the decision in what’s called a ‘faint hope hearing.’

“You don’t release him,” lawyer Christopher Hicks said in his opening statement Tuesday. “You give him his shot, his chance to persuade the Parole Board [of Canada].”

Hicks told the jury he intends to show them – through 18 witnesses – that Al-Shammari has changed from the person he was in 2004.

Al-Shammari was 19 years old when he participated in the murder of Thualfikar Alattiya, according to his lawyer.

The 41-year-old cab driver was stabbed so severely he was nearly decapitated, the court heard.

“He (Al-Shammari) was part of the murder of an innocent person,” Hicks said. “He didn’t kill the person.”

The crime

The jury learned Alantiyya and Daham Al Ghazzi were in a dispute over how a new mosque in Windsor was registered.

According to Assistant Crown Attorney George Spartinos, Alattiya demanded the money he had raised be returned when he learned Al Ghazzi registered it in his name, not the Islamic community.

Spartinos told the jury Al Ghazzi directed his sons to beat up Alattiya.

Over the course of a few weeks, Al Ghazzi’s two sons (Mohamed, 19, and his then 17-year-old son), Al-Shammari and Mohamed’s girlfriend developed a plan to attack Alattiya.

They planned – even scouted out an isolated location – to have his cab company dispatch Alantiyya to their location and then the group planned to attack.

Court heard the group attempted to attack Alattiya five days before his eventual death, but the cab driver was off shift.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2004, Alantiyya was dispatched to the group. The 17 year old got in the backseat, Al-Shammari in the front passenger, with Mohamed trying to take over driving.

Al-Shammari used the knife he brought to the attack and cut Alattiya’s seatbelt and helped push him into the backseat.

The 17 year old punched Alattiya while Al Ghazzi drove around the city.

“The victim recognized all three of them, referred to them by their first names, asked them why they were doing this and told them their parents would not approve,” Spartinos told the jury Tuesday.

At this point, the jury learned Al-Shammari panicked, handed the 17 year old his knife and said, “Kill him,” according to Spartinos.

“Mohamed testified that [the 17 year old] then began stabbing the victim, and Mr. Al-Shammari said to, “Make sure he’s not breathing,” Spartinos told the jury.

The group drove around until they were certain the cab driver was dead, according to Spartinos.

They parked the cab on Montrose Street and left. The group of men went to the Al Ghazzi home, then to school, then the mall.

Alattiya left behind a wife and three young children.

Thualfikar Alanttiya, 41, was killed on Nov. 19, 2004. (Courtesy: Windsor Police Service)

Three others convicted in the crime

Daham Al Ghazzi – who court heard tried to destroy evidence after the murder - was charged with first-degree murder but pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

“[The young offender] confessed to being the one who killed the victim by nearly decapitating him in the backseat of the cab on the morning of November 19th, 2004,” Spartinos told the jury. “He pled guilty to first-degree murder and in light of his age, he was a youth at the time, he received parole ineligibility of 10 years.”

Mohamed Al Ghazzi, who was 19 at the time of the murder, pled guilty to second-degree murder and received parole ineligibility of ten years.

He was the Crowns’ “central prosecution witness” in Al-Shammari’s trial, according to Spartinos.

Crown perspective

Spartinos’ opening statement to the jury was brief, but Spartinos did tell them he opposes Al-Shammari’s ‘faint hope’ applications.

He told the jury the only witnesses he intends to call are Alantiyya’s three children.

The basis for faint hope application

Al-Shammari has served 20 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with parole ineligibility of 25 years.

Lawyer Christopher Hicks told the jury Al-Shammari has worked ever since his incarceration to improve his life and change the person he was in 2004, describing his client’s corrections record as “exemplary.”

Now 38, Hicks said his client has finished high school, is working on college courses in finance and business, worked throughout his incarceration in the prison, and has maintained a strong support network with his parents and partner.

“He had to reassess himself, reassess his values and decide what kind of person he was going to be,” Hicks said.

Over the next three weeks, Hicks told the jury he plans to call approximately 18 witnesses, ten of whom work in the corrections system.

“They might not have anything particularly good to say about him because they don’t know him because he didn’t do anything wrong [while in prison],” Hicks said, noting most will testify Al-Shammari was never “on their radar” because he was a model inmate.

The jury learned Al-Shammari is incarcerated in the minimum security wing of Beaver Creek institution in Gravenhurst, Ont.

In the 20 years he’s been in prison, Hicks said Al-Shammari has never failed a single drug test, even though inmates, according to Hicks, are regularly tested.

“We’re not saying, ‘Oh come on, give him a break’. He’s earned this,” Hicks said. “This exercise is predicated on the innate capacity of individuals to rehabilitate themselves.”

First witness

The first witness to testify was Shona Donovan, a parole officer with Correctional Services of Canada.

She read through “eight volumes” of paperwork on Al-Shammari, from the time of his sentence (2007) up to today, in writing her “parole eligibility summary report.”

Donovan told the jury initially Al-Shammari did not take responsibility for his actions.

Over his time in prison however, Donovan said he was an “active participant” in programming.

His security clearance was lowered in 2011 from high risk to medium.

Donovan told the jury Al-Shammari has no “institutional charges” in his file for incidents that might have placed him in segregation.

When asked about the perfect record for drug testing Donovan told the jury “it’s pretty rare I’d say.”

The hearing will continue Wednesday.