Inquiry starts without murder defendant
Supporters of victim Victoria Head asked to remove memorial badges in courtroom
As the preliminary inquiry for accused murderer Steven Bragg got underway Tuesday morning, his lawyers indicated they would seek an order to ban members of the public from wearing badges or clothing with victim Victoria Head’s image on them in the courtroom.
Proceedings were paused as Judge Jacqueline Brazil asked Head’s supporters to remove badges they were wearing, bearing the 36-year-old’s picture, name and years of birth and death.
Brazil has not yet heard arguments from defence lawyers Bob Buckingham and Brittany Whalen on the issue, but judges have often banned similar badges and T-shirts from the courtroom in murder trials in an effort to keep proceedings neutral.
It’s generally considered by the court to be a demonstration and could be seen as an attempt to influence judges or juries. It was standing room only in the courtroom as the inquiry began, and a number of Head’s loved ones held each other and cried at different points during the testimony.
Evidence presented at the preliminary inquiry is banned from publication. Bragg, 35, wasn’t in court Tuesday and won’t attend at all during the seven-day inquiry, having been excused after Buckingham filed a successful application on his behalf last week.
Crown prosecutors Lisa Stead and Robin Singleton were also successful in an application last week to have some witnesses submit written statements as testimony in the inquiry.
The witnesses will be available for cross-examination, however. Head, a Placentia native and a mother of one, was killed last fall. Her body was found near O’brien’s Farm Road in St. John’s on Nov. 11, and police issued a missing person appeal for Bragg the next day.
He was reportedly located the day after that. In late December, Bragg was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
That charge was upgraded to first-degree murder in February, after police unearthed new evidence in the case.
Police say Head and Bragg knew each other.