Delays frustrate Okotoks rancher in firearms case
Another court adjournment for man charged with shooting at intruders
Community support for a local rancher facing firearms charges hasn’t dwindled despite what his lawyer says are continued delays by the Crown.
Eddie Maurice appeared in court for the fourth time in Okotoks on Friday, and his case was adjourned for another two weeks.
Maurice’s lawyer, Tonii Roulston, said the defence can’t move forward until she can review evidence gathered by the RCMP — documents the Crown has yet to provide.
Roulston wouldn’t go so far as to call the delays unreasonable, but did say frustrations are mounting and the family is feeling the emotional and financial toll of a lengthy court process.
“This family just wants to move on, that’s it,” she said outside the Okotoks courthouse. “They’re not asking for the attention.”
The Maurice family has found themselves at the centre of a debate around rural crime in Alberta, after gunfire rang out while intruders were trespassing on their land in February.
Police say the young father and property owner shot at two people “rummaging ” through a vehicle on his rural property near Okotoks in the early morning hours of Feb. 24.
Maurice was charged with aggravated assault, pointing a firearm and careless use of a firearm.
Ryan Watson was shot in the arm in the incident and taken to hospital. Watson has been charged with trespassing at night, mischief to property, theft, drug and probation charges.
Stephanie Ann Martens of Okotoks was also arrested and faces charges of trespassing at night, theft and mischief.
Because Maurice could face more jail time than the accused trespassers, Roulston said she will be pushing for the charges to be dismissed.
“So we take these charges very seriously — so do we want them to be withdrawn or stayed? Yes, of course, we do,” she said, adding her client’s “mistake, I suppose, is calling 911 and expecting help instead of getting arrested.”
George Clark, who has been helping organize support for the family, says the Crown would be “crazy” to take the case to trial, saying he doesn’t believe a jury would convict Maurice.
Maurice’s wife, Jessica, said she was not home the night of the shooting, and Clark said Eddie was “the last line of defence” between the trespassers and his two children.
With RCMP response times reaching more than 45 minutes in many rural areas, Roulston said she wants to avoid her client becoming a “test case” for the Crown.