Sask. man convicted of murder found guilty again; judge finds testimony ‘frankly unbelievable’

WATCH: Brandin Brick, 33, has been convicted of second-degree murder for the second time. He has once again been found guilty in the 2018 killing of James Chais

A Saskatoon man has been convicted of second-degree murder for the second time.

Brandin Brick, 33, has once again been found guilty in the 2018 killing of James Chaisson.

Surveillance footage showed Chaisson getting into Brick’s car outside the 7-Eleven at 22nd Street West and Avenue P North. A Crown witness testified that Brick shot Chaisson when he was inside the vehicle.

The Crown believes Brick targeted Chaisson because he was in a rival gang.

Brick was granted a new trial by Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal after claiming his lawyers didn’t give him an opportunity to testify.

But when he did take the stand — claiming the shooting was a drug deal gone wrong — the judge didn’t buy it.

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Brick said Chaisson got into his backseat to buy drugs. As he drove away, Brick testified Chaisson suddenly pulled out a gun and shoved the barrel into his ribs, demanding drugs. Brick said he slammed on the breaks, Chaisson dropped the gun and Brick took a “clean shot.”

“I frankly find this unbelievable,” Justice Timothy Keene wrote in his decision.

Justice Keene said the mechanics of the shooting, as described by Brick, “defy physics.”

The judge ruled the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Brick “had the state of mind required for murder.”

Brick is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15.

Second-degree murder comes with a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.