Testimony halts in teacher shooting trial to determine what accused may admit
CBC
The second day of an attempted murder trial in Moncton was quickly adjourned so lawyers could discuss what the accused may admit, something that could shave weeks off the trial.
Janson Bryan Baker, 27, faces 16 charges, including attempting to murder Christopher Leger with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun outside Riverview High School on Jan. 5, 2021.
The other charges include attempting to rob Leger of a gym bag, attempting to rob Joshua Hebb and various alleged firearms offences.
The trial by judge alone in Moncton's Court of King's Bench began Monday with testimony from four witnesses, including Leger and Hebb. The trial is scheduled to last up to four weeks.
However, Baker's lawyer Alex Pate told Justice Richard Petrie on Monday the defence was prepared to make "significant" admissions.
Crown prosecutor Malika Levesque told the judge Tuesday that the sides discussed it further and were still working on an agreed statement of fact. That's a document that would outline the details an accused admits, which means witnesses wouldn't need to be called to testify about those aspects.
Levesque asked for an adjournment to allow the sides to continue to work on the document.
"This is likely to save around three weeks of trial time," Pate said to the judge.
After discussing that, the Crown entered several exhibits with approval of the defence. Those items included a 12-gauge shotgun, shotgun pellets, spent shotgun shells, a red bag and Baker's sneakers.
The trial is expected to resume Wednesday morning.
Leger was among those who testified Monday. He said he was walking away from the school shortly after 5 p.m. after coaching a basketball team practice with with his colleague, Joshua Hebb.
While walking near the school, a car pulled up beside them and the driver demanded they hand over their belongings. The driver was holding a gun through the open driver's-side window, Leger and Hebb testified.
Leger said he thought he would be shot either way. He started to turn away and was then shot.
Surveillance footage played in court showed the incident unfolding within about 10 seconds before the vehicle drove off, without any of the two men's belongings.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.