Accused enters courtroom with knife instead of lawyer

A matter set for trial Tuesday ended in adjournment after the accused entered court with a knife, but no lawyer.

Nicolas Robert Vaudry is charged with theft under $5,000 after allegedly stealing a donation box from the McDonald’s restaurant in Penticton.

Vaudry entered the courtroom but was quickly intercepted by the sheriff, who took a knife from the accused and asked if he had any more weapons on him, to which the court heard “no.”

His trial was set for Tuesday morning but was quickly adjourned until further notice when Judge Michelle Daneliuk gave Vaudry the opportunity to seek legal advice.

“Stand up when I’m addressing you,” Daneliuk said after confirming with Vaudry that he was without representation and had no intention of finding any. “What is it that you wanted to do today?”

Vaudry’s response was “guilty plea,” which sounded unsure.

Daneliuk asked Vaudry whether or not he understood what a guilty plea meant in his situation and whether Crown counsel had explained the sentence they would ask the judge to impose. Court heard no response from Vaudry. “It was a very brief conversation because court convened as we were speaking, so if we stand down I can certainly have that conversation,” court heard counsel intervene.

“You have a constitutional right to have a trial,” Daneliuk told Vaudry after she explained that if he pleaded guilty, he was giving up that right, to which Vaudry responded with “OK.”