Lawyer unhappy with media coverage
PRELIMINARY HEARING UNDERWAY INTO AUSTIN WRIGHT’S DEATH
The lawyer representing a man charged with seconddegree murder in the death of a nine-month-old baby is concerned with all the media attention surrounding the case.
Tonii Roulston is particularly concerned because much of the recent media coverage coincides with Tyler Brian Hogan’s preliminary hearing, which began Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court.
Roulston reminds the media and others, including Bikers Against Child Abuse, that a publication ban has been ordered by the judge, which prohibits the publication, even on social media, any witness testimony or evidence presented during the preliminary hearing. Publication bans are routinely ordered so as not to taint any jury who will hear the case later during trial.
“These types of cases invoke emotion from the community for the victim and the victim’s family,” Roulston said Friday from the courthouse. “It is important to remember that part of our fundamental Canadian principles is that the accused in this case, Tyler Hogan, is presumed innocent and any determination should only be after trial, which has yet to occur.”
The preliminary hearing is scheduled to run in two parts, the first of which concludes Monday. The reminder of the hearing, to hear medical evidence, will be set at a later date.
Although defence has already agreed to Hogan’s committal for trial, a preliminary hearing is generally held to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant a trial.
It also discloses the evidence the Crown, and sometimes defence, plan to present during the trial.
Hogan is accused of killing Austin Lucas Wright, who died from blunt force trauma last year.
Lethbridge EMS went to a residence in the 600 block of 17 Street North after receiving a report April 28 that a baby boy was in medical distress. The baby was not breathing and in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived, and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police allege the baby's mother had left her boyfriend to care for the baby while she was at work. The child began crying and was assaulted, sustaining extensive, lifethreatening injuries.
Police reported the man, who is not the baby's biological father, initially said the baby had just stopped breathing. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter