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When the jury variety begins Monday for RNC Const’s Doug Snelgrove case, it will mark his time to appear in court for sexual assault and will also mark only the time when the jury trial will take place in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic began last spring.
Snelgrove, 42, was due to be tried again at the end of March, but it was one of four jury trials in the province, and dozens across the country, which was postponed indefinitely when the courts decided the logistics of prosecuting trials while we were serving. with public aptitude rules despite the coronavirus outbreak.
Snelgrove is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in St. Louis. John’s in December 2014 while on duty. Between 150 and two hundred prospective jurors are expected to participate in the variety procedure for their retrial, which he ordered through the Canadian Supreme Court after appeals. .
Courts in all provinces reduced operations and stopped jury trials by the pandemic, as they sought places of choice that could only sit participants while maintaining a social distance.
The jury’s first variety procedure in the middle of the pandemic took a position last month in New Brunswick for the case of Matthew Raymond, who was accused of shooting and killing two civilians and two police officers in Fredericton two years ago. at the Fredericton Convention Center, where they participated in a COVID-19 screening questionnaire, wearing masks, applying hand sanitist, and sitting in chairs six feet away.
The proceedings will be on Monday when the Snelgrove jury variety begins in St. John’s at the Topsail Road School for the Deaf. Sheriff’s deputies were at the school Friday, setting up an off-site courtroom connected via audiovisual equipment for a public gallery in the gym and study rooms set up to serve as waiting rooms for prospective jurors.
“Obviously, the way we go to trial through the jury will be the same, but different,” Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court President Raymond Whalen told Telegram. the construction and participation of the jury – all this is done in a much stricter environment, controlled and supervised through sheriff’s officers. There are very strict protocols that you want to follow. “
All calls to serve as a jury earned a data package with the main points on the new procedure and data similar to COVID-19. As with normal jury selection, prospective jurors had the opportunity to apply for an exemption in advance. The opinion on the presidency of Snelgrove’s trial will hear the requests for exemption from the user on Monday from those who did not meet the initial criteria for elimination.
That’s when Whalen predicts coVID-19 will emerge.
“That’s where I think some other people will probably raise the concern factor around COVID-19 or need to apply for an exemption on the grounds that it can cause them undue hardship in some way, and we’re going to face the challenges. so, ” he said. ” Fundamentally, the sentencing president will have to pay attention to the individual’s considerations and the cases he describes. If you reach the threshold of real difficulties for him, he may be exempted. no, they won’t be exempt. It’s a challenge facing courts across the country. “
It will also be up to the opinion to make a decision on how to proceed if a juror becomes ill or contracts COVID-19 the trial, Whalen said. It’s a challenge without an explained protocol.
“There is no answer to this question, to be frank. It’s similar to what happens in schools,” Whalen said. “We’re all a little informed as cases change. “
Although members of the media had access to judicial proceedings, the pandemic, either on the user or over the phone, until recently prevented the public from coming to court due to the limitations of social remoteness. One hundred members of the public will be able to attend the discussions.
The site was decided as an appropriate place with the assistance of the provincial departments of Justice and Public Security and Transport and Infrastructure.
“This construction belongs to the government and existing furniture is used and Eastern Audio has been hired to put the technical resources into effect,” Justice Minister Steve Crocker said in an email to Telegram. “Final prices have not been determined, but they deserve to be minimal Every effort has been made to use existing resources and to use government assets.
“I am convinced that all stakeholders are aware of the importance of justice and are running to deal with the delays created by this unprecedented situation. “
In the 3 months that the Supreme Court has been blocked and heard only urgent cases, more than 1,000 court appearances have been postponed. Whalen anticipates that the delay will be eliminated until the end of October, with the exception of postponed jury trials and safe trials of criminals with a bachelor trial that requires a month or more of hearing time. These have been postponed until autumn and 2021.
The ability to deal with instances virtually, even though it was difficult to involve all parties, helped minimize the blocking effect.
“Everything was on pause, but we accelerated, like many institutions, and discovered tactics to break into pieces until July 2,” Whalen said. “We paint all summer as much as we imagined and covered many of the paintings that were lost between March and June.
“Everything has been arranged. There’s something cowardly or that’s still been solved. “
The Supreme Court has a greater normal ability to hold virtual hearings by expanding its audio/video platform to connect not only courtrooms throughout the province, but also to allow parties to participate in court proceedings from their offices or homes. Success, Whalen said, and he hopes it will continue after the pandemic.
Snelgrove’s trial is expected, once the jury has been decided and submitted, to last 10 days.
Snelgrove, who has been suspended without pay since police won reports that he sexually assaulted a 21-year-old woman, pleaded not guilty to the fee and said sexual contact was consensual. His acquittal provoked public outrage and protests at RNC headquarters in St. Louis. . John, as well as in court.
The Crown appealed the verdict on the basis that the trial ruled that it had been wrong to teach the jury. Two of the three appeals court rulings agreed to allow the appeal, paving the way for a retrial. Snelgrove appealed his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ordered a retrial.
A public court proceeding will not end until Snelgrove’s trial is over, as is protocol, which means he is still hired by the gendarmerie, he does not work.
Shortly after his suspension, Snelgrove asked then-boss Bill Janes to reinstate him, but Janes refused. After being acquitted, Snelgrove asked Chief Joe Boland to revoke his suspension, but Boland also refused. Snelgrove then addressed the court, requesting a judicial review Although the opinion on us led us to believe that the reasons for Janes’ suspension of Snelgrove were unreasonable, he found that Boland’s reasons were appropriate and rejected Snelgrove’s request to be reinstated.