Pritchard wants guilty pleas stricken
A man who has already pleaded guilty to sexual assault and child luring against a young teenager, hopes a judge agrees to strike the pleas during a hearing next February.
Trevor Phillip Pritchard will apply to have his guilty pleas struck during a three-day hearing beginning Feb. 5, during which Pritchard’s lawyer — and former Lethbridge chief Crown prosecutor — Bill Wister of Calgary, is expected to have a psychiatrist speak to Pritchard’s mental capacity. Wister will also recommend his client revoke his attorney-client privilege with four previous lawyers so he can understand all that went into the original plea agreement.
The accused admitted in April that he sexually assaulted the young girl, who he met on Facebook. Court was told that on Jan. 17, 2017, the girl agreed to meet Pritchard, believing he would take her to a job interview. Pritchard took the girl to his home in Coaldale, however, and forced her to participate in various sex acts. He drove her home afterward and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
The Crown wants Pritchard, who was previously convicted of a 2013 sexual assault of two teenage girls, declared a dangerous offender. He is currently scheduled for trial in November on two more similar charges.
Wister told court during a hearing last month that because the stakes for his client are high, he must fully understand the implications of his guilty pleas. Wister reminded court that a dangerous offender application, if granted, can keep a person in custody for an indefinite period of time.
Justice Rodney Jerke cautioned Wister that the onus is on the defence to prove Pritchard didn’t understand the implications of his pleas. And although Jerke refused to vacate the guilty pleas during the hearing in September, he agreed to hear the application at a later date.
The matter was back in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench Monday, where the three-day hearing on the question of Pritchard’s mental competency was scheduled for next year. In the meantime, Pritchard remains in custody at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre.