Boyle will seek bail, court hears
Lawyers for a former hostage held in Afghanistan, now behind bars in Ottawa, are still working on a bid for bail, a judge heard Monday.
Joshua Boyle, 34, made a brief court appearance by video from the Ottawa- Carleton Detention Centre on 15 charges including assault, sexual assault, unlawful confinement and causing someone to “take a noxious thing,“namely the anti- depressant Trazodone.
He next appears in court by video link on Jan. 15.
Defence lawyer Ninetta Caparelli said in court that Boyle’s defence team, which is led by Lawrence Greenspon, needs a further week to complete a bail plan.
That would typically include the proposed sureties and conditions under which an accused would live under while awaiting trial if released on bail.
A bail hearing has yet to be scheduled.
Boyle wore an orange jail T- shirt with a folded piece of paper in the pocket.
During the brief appearance, he said little more than “morning” to Judge Vincent Clifford.
Prosecutor Kerry McVey said the Crown disclosed evidence against Boyle to his defence team on Jan. 3 and wants to proceed with the scheduling of meetings between defence lawyers and prosecutors, then between both parties and a judge, even as the bail process gets underway.
“The Crown would like to see the matter move along,” McVey said.
The offences, none of them proven in court, are alleged to have happened between Oct. 14 and Dec. 30.
There are two alleged victims but a court order bans publication details that might identify them or any witnesses.
Boyle and a pregnant Coleman were taken captive by a Talibanlinked group while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012.
Boyle, his three children and his American wife — Caitlan Coleman — were freed by Pakistani forces in October.
Their rescue made international headlines as the family settled first with Boyle’s parents in Smiths Falls and then in an Ottawa apartment. With files from The Canadian Press