By the time Andre Lecuyer appears for trial in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, five years will have passed since the crimes he’s accused of committing occurred.
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So, it’s understandable that the Crown and the court want to get the matters dealt with.
But Lecuyer will need to be there for that to happen.
Lecuyer, 38, is now living in Halifax, but was a resident of the Massey Drive on Jan. 31, 2014 when he allegedly broke into a man’s home on Humber Road in Corner Brook and tied him up with plastic cable ties.
He was charged with unlawful confinement, armed robbery, having his face masked with the intent to commit and indictable offence and break and enter.
Before Lecuyer went to trial on the charges he filed an application alleging breaches of his Charter rights and requested that certain evidence be excluded.
A Supreme Court Justice ruled in his favour in June 2016 and dismissed the charges.
The Crown appealed the Charter application decision and last December a panel of justices with the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, vacated the ruling and remitted the matter for a new trial.
Lecuyer was to appear in the Supreme Court in Corner Brook earlier this week on a voir dire on the exclusion of evidence that was to be dealt with before his trial, which is scheduled for April.
Instead, his lawyer, Jim Goudie, presented an application requesting that Lecuyer be excused from appearing.
Goudie told that court the Lecuyer, who is now living in Nova Scotia, is enrolled in a rehabilitation program through Veterans Affairs that requires him to attend a variety of treatment programs. Goudie said it is a rigid plan and Lecuyer is concerned missing any of it could result in a loss of his funding.
Justice George Murphy denied the application, saying for reasons of trial fairness Lecuyer should be present.
That still left the court with another issue as Lecuyer also has an application to seek a postponement of his trial as he also has trial dates set for the April in Nova Scotia.
Murphy said that Lecuyer will have to apply to the Nova Scotia court to have those dates changed and if that is not allowed then he wants proof that Lecuyer provided all the facts of his matters here to the Nova Scotia court.
Murphy set the dates for the voir dire for Jan. 28-30 and said his April 1-5 trial dates would stand. Lecuyer is expected to be present for both.
Nova Scotia charges
Halifax Provincial Court
Andre Lecuyer is scheduled to go on trial in the Halifax Provincial Court on April 9 on charges of assault, uttering threats, unlawful confinement, overcome resistance to commission of an offence and to choke suffocate or strangle another person and mischief.
The charges are alleged to have occurred on April 20.
A pretrial conference has been set for Jan. 28.
Dartmouth Provincial Court
Andre Lecuyer is scheduled to go on trial in the Dartmouth Provincial Court on April 1 and 2. With a pretrial conference on Feb. 14.
There’s also a request for an adjournment that will be heard on Dec. 17. The court could not provide any details on the nature of the request.
He’s charged with impaired driving, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of prohibited weapon.
The offences are alleged to have occurred on April 22.
