Nolle prosequi stalls attempted murder case

Mason Patnett

Crown prosecutors say they have insufficient evidence to try Mason Patnett in the attempted murder of Marvin Bull, who has been missing since 2014. They entered a motion of nolle prosequi today before Supreme Court Justice Adolph Lucas. Twenty-one year old Bull was the target when Patnett is alleged to have instigated the late Raheem Crawford to shoot Bull over an old dispute. Bull survived and gave a statement to police, but he went missing two years later. The Crown needs Bull, who identified Crawford as his attacker, to either testify to the statement to render it admissible, or under section one hundred and five of the Evidence Act, prove he is dead and not available to testify which would still allow the statement to be admitted. Bull’s family was reportedly showed a badly decomposed body believed to be his remains, covered in clothing reportedly identified as his. But no D.N.A. match was established. Crawford was later shot dead in August of 2014. The motion means that when police find sufficient evidence to try Patnett, he can be re-arrested and charged.