Trial next year
Dorothy Groves murder trial set for next year
The trial of a city woman charged with first-degree murder in the July 2012 death of a 66-yearold man has been rescheduled until next year.
Dorothy Groves, who was charged after George MacKenzie’s body was found in his Aylmer St. apartment by city police officers sent to check on his well-being on July 30, 2012, will now face trial starting March 7.
The trial, which is expected to last eight weeks, was previously scheduled to begin Monday morning in Peterborough Superior Court of Justice.
It was moved back due to the unavailability of defence counsel, said Lisa Wannamaker, who is prosecuting the case along with fellow assistant Crown Attorney Amanda Kok.
Groves, who was 40 and of no fixed address when she was charged by city police on Aug. 2, 2012, has been in custody since her arrest. She is being represented by Tony Bryant of Toronto law firm Burstein Bryant Barristers.
Pre-trial motions in the case are now scheduled to begin Oct. 26. That’s where prosecutors and defence lawyers appear before a judge to argue that certain evidence should be kept out of the trial, that certain persons must or cannot testify, or that the case should be dismissed altogether.
Pre-trial proceedings in the case began in Newmarket on June 6, 2014. Groves was found guilty on Aug. 21, 2014 of a theft which took place before her arrest for homicide.
A preliminary hearing in the matter took place in Peterborough Ontario Court of Justice in November 2013, presided over by Mr. Justice Lorne Chester.
City police said Groves and MacKenzie knew each other, but did not explain the nature of their relationship. She was described by police as someone involved with the local drug culture, no stranger to officers who patrolled the downtown core.
The extensive investigation was overseen by Det. Sgt. Dan MacLean of the major crimes unit. He could not be reached for comment.