Murder trial adjourned, accused needs new lawyer
A Pictou County man accused of murder is now without a lawyer or a trial date.
Robert Jason MacKenzie, 37, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Nicole Campbell on Dec. 30, 2015. His jury trial was scheduled to start May 28, but after a four-hour session in Supreme Court on Thursday, it has been adjourned and MacKenzie is now searching for new legal counsel.
Justice John D. Murphy had many decisions to make in Pictou Thursday morning after reading through the notes of previous justices who have been dealing with an application for an adjournment put forth by MacKenzie’s lawyer, Barbara Cooper, in early March.
Cooper told the court the adjournment was necessary because she couldn’t secure payment from legal aid for an expert medical witness. On April 5, the court told her to go back to legal aid and the witness to work out the issues and if she didn’t come back May 3 with a resolution then her request for an adjournment would be dismissed.
She returned to Pictou Supreme Court Thursday and told Murphy that she nailed down all the points she wanted legal aid to cover financially over a phone call, but when she put the points in writing, legal aid wouldn’t sign it.
Murphy said Cooper was told during her last court date that the witness must be secured or an adjournment would not be granted so he dismissed her application.
This decision led to Cooper asking the court for permission to withdraw from the case because she could not provide MacKenzie with the defence he needed for a fair trial.
She said if the trial was to go ahead even without her medical expert, she had spent so much time on this problem and waiting six months to receive MacKenzie’s medical records that she hasn’t had time to find a toxicologist or do pre-trial preparations.
“If this trial goes ahead in May there would be no medical evidence and that would be a disaster for Mr. MacKenzie and getting a fair trial.”
Murphy said he could see no ethical reasons for Cooper to be withdrawn from the case because there was no breakdown in communication between herself and her client so, in his opinion, it came down to money and the ability to pay a witness.
“I am having great difficulty three weeks before the trial allowing you to withdraw because of a money issue,” Murphy said.
Cooper responded by saying she was put in this position by “politics of legal aid” and having to pay for a witness up front, but Murphy was quick to correct her by saying she should have had these details worked out in her retainer fee with legal aid before she agreed to take the case.
“This is not the first time legal aid has had to hire an expert witness,” he said.
“It is with great reluctance that I allow you to withdraw from the case,” said Murphy. “It is not a decision I have come to easily.”
After this decision, Murphy asked MacKenzie if he was prepared to proceed to trial on May 28 without a lawyer to which he said he would like time to find new legal representation.
However, in order to grant his request for adjournment, MacKenzie also had to waive his Jordan case rights, which require court cases to take place in a reasonable amount of time.
The clock is ticking on MacKenzie’s case which would reach the 30-month threshold in June, but after his lawyers were withdrawn from the case, he waived his Jordan rights so it would give him time to seek new counsel and prepare for trial.
The Crown said it would consent to the adjournment because of the serious nature of the charge so a court date of June 7 was set for MacKenzie, his new lawyer and the Crown to return to set new trial dates.
Murphy said he was also going to request that legal aid be present in the courtroom because if MacKenzie couldn’t have a lawyer present on this particular day, he would at least have legal representation.
MacKenzie also faces charges of robbery and carrying a weapon which were scheduled for a separate trial in April, but adjourned until the issues surrounding murder trial were resolved. These charges will also be put over until June 7.