Judge condemns murder trial delay, asks lawyers to 'turn around' and look at the public 'we serve'

A Saskatoon murder trial opened on Monday with the judge sharply criticizing the time it’s taken to get to trial.

A Saskatoon murder trial opened on Monday with the judge sharply criticizing the time it’s taken to get to trial.

Summer-Sky Henry and Cheyann Peeteetuce are charged with first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Megan Gallagher. Gallagher was reported missing in September 2020. Two years later, police found the woman’s remains near St. Louis, Sask.

Justice Richard Danyliuk asked the lawyers to turn in their chairs and look at the gallery.

"Make eye contact with some of the members of the gallery. These are the people we serve," Danyliuk said.

"The justice system doesn't exist for us — the lawyers and the judges. It exists for them ... It exists for the people of Saskatchewan and Canada."

Gallagher's father and stepmother, who sat in the gallery, nodded in agreement, as the judge condemned the delays.

Danyliuk made reference to the Taylor Kennedy trial, where the judge stayed her charge of impaired driving causing death because Kennedy was not tried within a reasonable time.