Attempted murder suspect fires lawyer
The trial for a 32-year-old Lethbridge man charged with attempted murder after shots were fired at a westside home earlier this year had to be cancelled Thursday after the accused fired his lawyer in an unrelated case.
“There has been a breakdown of the solicitorclient relationship,” the lawyer told a judge, moments before he was allowed to withdraw as counsel of record.
The lawyer was representing Robert John Sheppard on charges of sexual assault with a weapon, sexual assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. The matter was scheduled for a three-day trial next month in Court of Queen’s Bench but it was cancelled after court was told the new lawyer, Tonii Roulston of Calgary, would take the case.
The charges relate to an alleged incident April 29, 2016 at or near Coalhurst. Few details of the charges have been made public, but a new trial has been set for Sept. 9-11, 2019.
Sheppard also faces a single charge of attempted murder and charges of assault with a weapon, discharging a firearm, resisting arrest, careless use/storage of a firearm, pointing a firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm/weapon in a vehicle, possession of a firearm/weapon obtained by the commission of an offence and carrying a concealed weapon.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges Aug. 9 and was back in court Aug. 23 when the matter was simply adjourned to Oct. 9.
Police reported that at about 9 p.m. April 15 Lethbridge police responded to a 911 call of shots fired in a home in the 100 block of Heritage Boulevard West. Four people escaped from the home safely and the area was cordoned off as police attempted to find the suspect.
When the tactical team entered the home the individual had already fled, but RCMP officers found him at about 1:45 the next morning and he was arrested near Granum following a police chase.
In addition to the charges stemming from the shooting-related incident and the 2016 incident, Sheppard also faces three more unrelated charges of assault, sexual assault and mischief causing damage, for which a trial date has yet to be scheduled.
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