Siblings facing trial separately

Pier and Grace Robotti had their application to be tried separately granted Nov. 29

Two siblings accused of murdering Roxanne Louie in Penticton nearly two years ago will stand trial separately, with a media blackout on the first case, a judge has ruled. Pier and Grace Robotti had their application to be tried separately granted on Nov. 29 in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna, according to Don Skogstad, who’s representing Pier.

Skogstad declined comment on the basis for the application, which relies on a seldom-used section of Canadian law.

The Criminal Code states such a severance may be granted if a judge “is satisfied that the interests of justice so require.”

The leading case on the matter — a 2009 decision in the Supreme Court of Canada known as Last — notes it’s generally preferable to try co-accused together to save time and expense, but there are some overriding considerations.

Those factors include “the complexity of the evidence, whether the accused intends to testify on one count but not another, the possibility of inconsistent verdicts — and the existence of antagonistic defences as between co-accused persons,” the decision explains.

In the Robottis’ case, it appears the severance has at least allowed the trials to move ahead faster. Piers’ trial is now set to begin March 6, followed by Grace’s on March 20. The joint trial was previously scheduled for July.

Skogstad noted, however, that the judge who granted the severance application also agreed to impose a publication ban on evidence heard at Pier’s trial so as not to taint the jury pool for his sister’s case.

Louie family spokeswoman Laurie Wilson said relatives were pleased to see the trial dates bumped up, but are not looking forward to sitting through two separate cases.

“We’re happy the judge is taking a strong stance on getting it done and having no more delays,” she said.

Wilson noted the family is still reeling from the death of Louie’s mother, Beverly, in a car accident near Osoyoos in October, but remains committed to ensuring both Beverly and Roxanne are represented at the trials.

“People are praying lots, more subdued than they have been, but the fire still burns for justice and we will keep that at the forefront any way we can, but not to the detriment of the trial,” she said.

Penticton lawyer James Pennington, who’s representing Grace, is in the final days of a three-week voir dire to hammer out pre-trial issues, such as admissibility of some evidence. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The cases were moved to Kelowna due to security concerns at the Penticton courthouse.

Wilson said the First Nations community, of which Louie was a member, is planning to hold just a single prayer meeting before the first trial, in part to draw attention to the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women in Canada.

Pier and Grace are each charged with the second-degree murder of Louie in January 2015. Both are in their 60s.

The 26-year-old Louie was originally from the Oliver area and had been visiting the South Okanagan over the Christmas holidays. Her body was discovered in the woods near Naramata.

Grace is the great-grandmother of Louie’s son.