Bail hearing begins for B.J. Marriott

A bail hearing got underway Tuesday for a member of a well-known Halifax crime family.

Brian James (B.J.) Marriott, 37, of St-laurent, Que., and 14 other men were charged after a brutal attack on an inmate at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth last Dec. 2.

Stephen Anderson was assaulted within a half-hour of arriving at the jail. Some men went into his cell to carry out the attack while others formed a wall to keep correctional officers away.

Anderson was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries but survived.

All 15 men are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, forcible confinement, aggravated assault, assault with weapon and obstructing correctional officers. One of the men also faces a charge of assaulting a correctional officer.

Marriott's bail hearing in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax is being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Justice Denise Boudreau and defence lawyer Stan Macdonald were in the courtroom Tuesday. Marriott appeared by video from the jail and Crown attorneys Rick Woodburn and Scott Morrison participated via Skype.

Three people being proposed as sureties by the defence testified by video from another room in the courthouse.

Lawyers will make their submissions when the hearing resumes next week.

There's a publication ban on the evidence and submissions heard by the judge, and on the reasons for her eventual decision to grant or deny bail.

Marriott is just the second of the 15 defendants to have a bail hearing. Colin Eric Ladelpha, 32, of Halifax was denied bail by a different Supreme Court judge in February.

A preliminary inquiry for the group is scheduled for January 2021. That hearing will determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the case to Supreme Court for a jury trial.

Some defence lawyers expect the Crown to file a preferred indictment, which would send the matter directly to trial.