Andre Lecuyer has been given more time to sort out his legal representation, but the patience of the courts is wearing thin.
Lecuyer was supposed to go to trial April 1 on charges stemming from a home invasion in Corner Brook alleged to have taken place in January 2014.
The matter has been caught up in legal proceedings since, including the Crown’s successful appeal of a decision in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to exclude evidence from the investigation because Lecuyer’s Charter rights had been breached.
That initial decision led to the charges against Lecuyer being dismissed in 2016.
Since the Crown’s appeal, which resulted in a new trial being ordered, Lecuyer has tried again to have the court exclude crucial evidence obtained by police. Justice George Murphy ruled in March that this evidence is admissible and set the matter for trial.
The new trial has been delayed as Lecuyer goes about obtaining legal counsel. Jim Goudie, who had represented Lecuyer during his most recent Charter rights application, has since withdrawn from representing Lecuyer after a breakdown in their solicitor-client relationship.
When the matter was called for a status update in Supreme Court Monday morning, Lecuyer — who appeared by telephone — told Murphy he has applied for legal aid and is awaiting a decision on whether he will be approved or not.
Murphy expressed the court’s frustration with the continued delays, noting that he didn’t want to schedule the trial for dates that are currently available in June if Lecuyer’s new lawyer is not going to be ready for a trial that soon.
The judge said he will call the matter every week for a status update until the trial dates are set. The next update will be next Tuesday.
Lecuyer, who now lives in Halifax, was a resident of Massey Drive in January 2014 when he and another man allegedly broke into a person’s home on Humber Road in Corner Brook, tied him up with plastic cable ties and robbed him. Lecuyer was charged with unlawful confinement, armed robbery, having his face masked with the intent to commit an indictable offence and break and entry.
The co-accused in the case, Kirby Spence, had the charges against him dismissed last year after the courts ruled his Charter rights had been breached and vital evidence was ordered to be excluded from his trial.
