Attempted murder trial to resume in Sept.
An attempted murder trial adjourned several times since last December is finally set to resume, but not until the fall.
The trial, which was put on hold while defence petitioned Legal Aid to cover the costs for an expert witness, will continue Sept. 21-22, a judge ruled Wednesday in Lethbridge.
During a hearing Monday in provincial court, a judge signed an application by the Crown and defence instructing Legal Aid to pay to have a DNA expert testify for the defence.
Legal Aid is already paying for the accused’s lawyer, but it has refused to cover the extra cost of the expert, and the trial has been adjourned several times since December when the Crown concluded its case.
Evidence and testimony heard so far during the attempted murder trial are part of a voir dire — a mini trial within a trial to determine the admissability of evidence — and can’t be published unless the judge allows the evidence into the trial proper.
However, police reported in a news release shortly after the incident May 3, 2015, that a woman was asleep at a family member’s home when a man broke into the residence through a patio door and sexually assaulted her. A family member called 911, but the assailant dragged his victim outside and continued the assault, then slashed her throat with a knife before running away.
The 20-year-old suspect, who can’t be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was only 17 at the time, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, unlawful confinement, break and enter and commit sexual assault, uttering threats and robbery.
In a preliminary hearing last year, a judge granted a request by the Crown to allow hearsay evidence. The ruling was necessary since the woman who had her throat slit died of unrelated causes several months after the incident and can’t testify or be cross-examined. A second witness for the Crown also died, forcing the Crown to rely on the evidence of police officers who spoke to the witnesses and recorded their statements.