Man charged in kidnapping, assault case makes quick appearance

The case of a man charged in connection with a kidnapping, confinement and beating of a person earlier this year was briefly before the Medicine Hat court Wednesday.

George Robert Johnson entered not-guilty pleas to charges of unlawful confinement and assault with a weapon earlier this October, and was to have a trial before the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Counsel appearing on his behalf on Wednesday said the charges are now looking to be resolved, with Crown and defence working toward and agreed statement of facts.

The next court appearance is set for Nov. 9, 1 p.m. in Courtroom 9.

Co-accused Michael Orr appeared before court Tuesday, with trial dates set for May 8-11 over multiple charges including kidnapping/confinement, robbery, assault, assault with weapon and drug charges. Another co-accused, Jennifer Cote, pled guilty and was sentenced earlier this year.

Child luring

A man facing one charge of child luring made a brief court appearance Wednesday. Legal representation for Lawrence Evans requested an adjournment until Nov. 9, with a joint request from defence and Crown for a criminal responsibility report to be done. Evans was arrested in May by law enforcement’s Integrated Child Exploitation unit, allegedly having attempted to lure an 11-year-old girl online.

Fraud charges

A woman facing various fraud-related charges entered notguilty pleas Wednesday. April Lynn Lopez will have a trial before the provincial court on May 7 over numerous charges such as possessing another person’s ID information, making/possessing ID documents pertaining to another person and fraud under $5,000.