Charges stayed in fatal stage collapse

TORONTO • Charges stemming from a fatal Radiohead concert stage collapse in 2012 were stayed Tuesday when a judge ruled the case took far too long to come to trial.

The delays, Ontario court Judge Ann Nelson ruled, violated the rights of those charged to a timely hearing.

The Supreme Court of Canada, Nelson noted, set a presumptive ceiling of 18 months for proceedings in provincial courts, and this case would have taken almost five years to complete if it had gone to a second trial.

On June 16, 2012, hours before the band Radiohead were due to perform in the north end of Toronto, part of the massive stage structure crashed down. Scott Johnson, 33, a British drum technician, was killed. Three others were injured.

A year later, entertainment company Live Nation and Domenic Cugliari, an engineer, and contractor Optex Staging were charged with 13 offences under provincial health and safety laws.

In the spring, with the case set to wrap up after 40 trial days scattered over 14 months, the presiding judge, Shaun Nakatsuru, declared he had lost jurisdiction given his appointment to a higher court. That decision led to a senior justice declaring a mistrial in May, and a new hearing was set to begin Monday and wrap in May.

However, lawyers for Live Nation and Cugliari argued before Nelson last month for a stay in light of the delays. The parties agreed her ruling would also apply to Optex.