Tina’s accused killer heads straight to trial

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This article was published 21/02/2017 (3423 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The man accused in the high-profile homicide of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was arraigned on his second-degree murder charge Tuesday as the case heads directly to trial without a preliminary hearing. 

A clean-shaven Raymond Cormier, 54, appeared briefly in court Tuesday. The formal charge of second-degree murder was read to Cormier, but he was not required to enter a plea.

The preliminary hearing scheduled for May will no longer be held. A jury trial is expected late this year or in early 2018, defence lawyer Tony Kavanagh said.

Tina’s case prompted calls for a national inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous females. Her body was found wrapped in a duvet cover in the Red River in Winnipeg in August 2014. She had only been in Winnipeg a couple of weeks after leaving her great-aunt’s home on the Sagkeeng First Nation, about 70 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Kavanagh said his client was looking forward to the preliminary hearing and feels his rights have been pushed aside as a result of the direct indictment, which was approved by the office of Manitoba’s attorney general for reasons the Crown’s office is not required to share with defence counsel.

Manitoba Justice’s policy on direct indictments states they may only be used in “exceptional circumstances” that outweigh the benefits of a preliminary hearing.

Direct indictments are allowed when concerns arise involving the protection of witnesses, protection of the accused’s right to trial in a timely manner and protection of ongoing police operations, for example.

The provincial policy says a preliminary hearing may not be helpful in a case that relies on Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenges to the admissibility of evidence, since those arguments must be heard during trial.

The Crown’s office declined to comment on the Cormier case.

Cormier is pursuing a Law Enforcement Review Agency complaint against the Winnipeg Police Service, accusing police of fabricating evidence against him during their lengthy investigation into Tina’s death.

Cormier was arrested in Vancouver by Winnipeg police officers who had used an undercover-officer sting as part of their investigation.

 

Kavanagh said he doesn’t know whether Cormier’s allegations against police are related to the Crown’s request to skip the preliminary hearing.

“It’s hard to know,” Kavanagh said Tuesday. “All I can say is Mr. Cormier is obviously quite upset. I mean, he was looking forward to the prelim. He was looking forward to the opportunity to see what the evidence was in person, and his belief is that his rights have been sort of pulled away from him. It’s not a surprise, he’s spoken publicly… about how he feels that the police have taken advantage and pushed him on this matter, and that was the focus of his complaint to LERA. He feels this is yet another thing that’s been taken away from him in trying to mount his defence.”

Cormier’s LERA complaint is proceeding separately and is to be rescheduled to a later date.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay

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