Lawyer wants mother’s conviction in son’s death thrown out over delays
The 38 months it took the prosecution to convict Tamara Lovett of criminal negligence in her son’s death was excessive and should result in the case being tossed, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Defence counsel Alain Hepner said the time period exceeded guidelines established by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Jordan decision and should result in a stay being entered against Lovett.
Hepner said the period between Lovett being charged in November 2013 and her conviction last January — by Judge Kristine Eidsvik — was excessive and amounted to a breach of the Calgary woman’s charter right to be tried within a reasonable period of time.
In the Jordan decision, released in July 2016, the Supreme Court said cases that take longer than 30 months to be completed from the time a person is charged will be presumed to be a violation of an individual’s charter rights.
But Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak said the delay attributable to the justice system, as opposed to the defence, was 32 months. He said Lovett’s trial could have been conducted in June 2016, but Hepner was unavailable, causing its start to be delayed until late November 2016.
Hak said while that was still in excess of the 30 months established in Jordan, the Lovett case began before that ruling, so previous case law applied.
The prosecutor said because Lovett was able to conduct her defence without any problem, even testifying without struggling to remember details, there was no prejudice in the case.
Eidsvik will rule on the stay application on Nov. 17. If she denies the application, she said, she will likely proceed to sentencing Lovett that day.
Lovett remains at liberty pending her next court appearance.