Jury to decide Ont. man's fate after ping pong game turned deadly

A jury of seven women and five men listened to closing arguments in the manslaughter trial of a man accused of taking his uncle's life in a Mono home during a heated ping pong game three years ago.

"This is no doubt a tragic case," defence lawyer Peter Brauti said. "Family members who loved and cared about each other got into a trivial disagreement, and Mr. Osahan died."

Anmol Saggu, 30, faces charges of manslaughter and assault for pushing his uncle when things got violent in the early morning hours on Nov. 1, 2019.

Fifty-year-old Taranjit Singh Osahan fell to the floor after the fight and never regained consciousness.

The forensic expert, who performed an autopsy on Taranjit, testified he had a severe long-standing coronary artery disease that left the man "at risk of sudden death at any time."

The defence told the jury that because of his heart condition, Saggu couldn't be guilty of manslaughter.

Brauti said Saggu came under attack for looking up the rules of ping pong, and his cousin got angry. He told the court Taranjit got in Saggu's face "to defend his son," and Saggu pushed him back to create space, noting his client wasn't angry. "At his highest, he was annoyed."

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"Whether it was the push or a grab at the clothing, it doesn't matter because all of those would be reasonable actions under the law of self-defence," he stated.

During the Crown's closing, attorney Chris Pressman called the situation an "unusual set of circumstances," stating that Saggu didn't act in self-defence, rather he was acting "aggressively."

However, the defence argued it wasn't until between four and seven minutes after the fight, based on the four 911 calls from the basement that fateful morning, that Taranjit collapsed.

"You must acquit," he concluded.

Justice Gisele Miller will finish instructing the jury Thursday. The jury will then have to decide if Saggu is guilty of manslaughter and assault.