Drake drops bid for bail
A Halifax man awaiting two murder trials in Nova Scotia Supreme Court next year has abandoned his application for bail.
Adam Joseph Drake, 32, faces two counts of first-degree murder from killings that occurred in Halifax almost six years apart.
Drake is accused of shooting Tyler Keizer in November 2016 and fatally stabbing Dartmouth rap artist Pat Stay in September 2022.
The two jury trials are scheduled to get underway in April 2024 and September 2024, respectively.
Drake applied for bail in Supreme Court. His bail hearing sat for two days in April and was supposed to resume Monday in front of Justice Jamie Campbell.
But Ian Hutchison, who represents Drake on the Keizer murder charge, advised the court they were dropping the bail application.
“I have instructions from Mr. Drake to withdraw the application,” Hutchison said while his client looked on from the prisoners bench. “We are no longer pursuing the application.”
There’s a ban on details of the bail hearing to preserve Drake’s right to fair trials on the allegations.
Crown attorneys Rick Woodburn, Tanya Carter and Cory Roberts opposed Drake’s release. They called testimony from one person – a homicide investigator – in April.
Defence lawyers Hutchison, Michael Lacy and Stan Macdonald were expected to call evidence on their release plan Monday, but Drake decided not to proceed.
Hutchison was the only defence lawyer to appear in court Monday.
Drake’s father, aunt, girlfriend and girlfriend’s mother were in the gallery. He smiled and waved at them throughout the brief appearance.
Keizer, 22, was sitting in a sport utility vehicle in a parking lot at the corner of Gottingen and Falkland streets in Halifax on the night of Nov. 21, 2016, when a man wearing a hoodie shot him at point-blank range and ran away.
Drake was arrested in March 2019 and charged with murdering Keizer. Prosecutors withdrew the charge in October 2021, just days before trial, saying there was no realistic prospect of conviction.
Police continued to investigate the shooting and re-laid the charge against Drake last Oct. 28, seven weeks after he was arrested for the Stay homicide.
Stay, an accomplished battle rapper, was stabbed at Yacht Club Social last Sept. 4 at about 12:35 a.m., shortly after he entered the bar on Lower Water Street in downtown Halifax.
The 36-year-old stumbled outside, where he collapsed from his injuries. He died a short time later at the Halifax Infirmary.
Stay was survived by two children and his common-law spouse.
Drake was arrested Sept. 10 in Upper Tantallon and charged with murdering Stay. He is being held at the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Pictou County.
GOT BAIL IN MARCH 2020
Drake was denied bail on the original Keizer murder charge in Supreme Court in June 2019 but secured his release in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal in March 2020.
He was arrested twice in 2021 for allegedly breaching his bail conditions, only to be released again each time. He pleaded guilty in Halifax provincial court last Sept. 7 to two breach charges and was fined $15,000.
Lisa Kravis, Keizer’s mother, was pleased to hear Drake is no longer seeking bail.
“It’s about time things started to go well for my family,” Kravis told The Chronicle Herald.
“I’m hoping the next 10 months he has lots of time to think about the horrific things he (allegedly) has done, while he figures out what kind of life he is going to have for the rest of his life.”