PC justice critic urges N.L. government to hire more prosecutors
PC justice critic Helen Conway Ottenheimer is calling on Newfoundland and Labrador government to launch a review into Crown attorney resources. (Curtis Hicks/CBC)
An accused murderer was freed of charges in Newfoundland and Labrador last week, and the Opposition justice critic is calling for more support for the government's Crown prosecutors.
Kurt Churchill's second-degree murder charges in Newfoundland and Labrador were stayed in Supreme Court last week under court guidelines intended to ensure the Charter right of an accused to be tried in a reasonable time.
Helen Conway Ottenheimer says there's a concern for public safety and Crown attorneys in Newfoundland and Labrador can only do so much.
"If our Crown attorney's office is weakened because of inadequate staffing, every single person in our province, I would submit, is at risk," Conway Ottenheimer said. "If we have potentially dangerous offenders being released into our community, you know, that's even going to cause more risk."
With attorneys handling more than 200 cases at a time, she said, the province has to act immediately.
Justice Minister Bernard Davis wouldn't say much about the situation last week — only that the decision to toss out Churchill's case was now under examination by the Crown.
"Public prosecutions is looking into this," Davis told reporters at the time.
Churchill was accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of James Cody in St. John's in 2020.
With a trial set for last fall, the case was delayed after unredacted information was mistakenly disclosed to defence lawyers. The Crown then asked to have all three of Churchill's lawyers dismissed just weeks before his trial was due to begin last fall.
The defence successfully argued that Churchill's charge had passed a 30-month limit for Supreme Court cases to be heard by a judge.
Churchill is currently in custody in Ontario on unrelated charges.
'They have to act'
In August, the head of the association that represents Newfoundland and Labrador prosecutors called on the province to invest in its Crown attorneys.
"Quite simply, the number of Crown attorneys has not been adequately adjusted to keep up with the increase in crime," said Shawn Patten, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown Attorneys Association.
Kurt Churchill was accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of James Cody in 2020. (Bruce Tilley/CBC)
When Patten spoke to CBC News last month, he said the province wasn't at the stage where cases are being tossed because Crown attorneys aren't able to bring them to court.
Weeks later that has changed. For Churchill's case, unless prosecutors appeal the decision and an appeal is granted, he will no longer be prosecuted for Cody's death.
But Newfoundland and Labrador isn't alone. Other provinces are in a similar position.
In April, New Brunswick announced its plan to increase the number of provincial prosecutors by 50 per cent following a warning from the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association of a staffing crisis and a risk of the collapse of the court system.
Conway Ottenheimer said Davis is avoiding the Justice Department's responsibilities.
"The crime rate is really concerning and yet we're not seeing the government take the immediate action that they need to take like we've seen in other provinces," she said. "They have to act and they have to do it immediately."
Without proper resources, Conway Ottenheimer worries more cases will be dropped.
"The Justice Department has to ensure the safety of the public and to ensure that the Crown attorneys office is adequately staffed and resourced so that they can deal with very serious homicide cases like you saw last week," she said.
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.
