Crown opposes plea change in stabbing case
Justin Jordan sat exceptionally quietly during his video appearance before a St. John’s judge Friday, turning his head and leaning his ear forward to listen to what was happening in the courtroom.
The 25-year-old got what he had been looking for, for the most part, with the Crown agreeing to accept not guilty pleas to his charges of assault, assaulting a correctional officer, assault with a weapon, false alarm of fire and multiple court order breaches.
A three-day trial was set for August.
Jordan had previously pleaded guilty to the charges, telling the court months ago he wanted to speed things up so he could be transferred outside the province, but later requested to change those pleas.
The Crown drew the line, however, when it came to a charge of stabbing fellow inmate Trent Butt during a recreation period at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary last year.
When defence lawyer Jennifer Curran indicated Jordan wanted to withdraw that guilty plea as well, prosecutor Jason House opposed the change.
Judge Mark Pike asked Curran to file a formal application, and set the case over until June 4 for an update.
Jordan is accused of having stabbed Butt — who is awaiting trial for the murder of his five-year-old daughter, Quinn — last June. Butt was not seriously injured.
“Put your hands in the air for Baby Quinn,” Jordan told reporters as he was being escorted into the courtroom for the first time on that matter. His court appearances since then have been marked by outbursts, with Jordan giving a judge the middle finger at one point and ordering her to stand up and not tell him what to do.
He has had confrontations with sheriff’s officers, blown kisses to members of the media and tried to engage judges on topics ranging from provincial politics to the British monarchy to legal cases from other provinces.
He has expressed concern over having reportedly been denied prescription medication while behind bars.
At a court appearance last week, Curran said she had concerns about Jordan’s mental health and asked for a psychiatric assessment, but Judge David Orr declined, saying Jordan had been assessed twice and deemed fit for trial, most recently after a monthlong evaluation in the Waterford Hospital in February.