Skip to content

Drunk driving trial rescheduled for next April

The Red Deer contractor charged in connection with a fatal collision on Canada Day 2010 was ordered on Monday to stand trial starting in April — with or without a lawyer.

The Red Deer contractor charged in connection with a fatal collision on Canada Day 2010 was ordered on Monday to stand trial starting in April — with or without a lawyer.

Rodney Ross Arens, 35, had pleaded not guilty to charges of impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing injury, dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing injury, refusing to give police a sample of his breath and breaching conditions of an earlier offence.

He is accused of killing Anouluck “Jeffrey” Chanminaraj and injuring his older brother and sister, Jamie and Stephanie, in a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Kerry Wood and Taylor Drives in Red Deer late in the evening of July 1, 2010. The deceased child was 13. His brother and sister were 18 and 20 at the time.

Arens had been scheduled for an eight-week trial by judge and jury in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench, starting on March 25 of this year. However, the trial was postponed when Arens advised the court late in January that he had fired his lawyer.

He was still unrepresented for his scheduled appearance to set a new trial date on Monday and asked that he be given more time to raise the $20,000 he estimates he will need to retain a new lawyer.

Arens told the court he was arrested on new charges in April and was granted release from custody, but was unable to raise bail until 10 days ago. The new charges include breaching conditions of his release on the 2010 charges, along with a series of traffic offences.

However, after hearing arguments from Crown prosecutor Jordan Petty, Justice Peter McIntyre ordered that Arens set a new trial date and be prepared to represent himself if he is unable to hire a lawyer.

The new trial is scheduled for April 22 to June 13, 2014, allowing an extra week to give time for the Victoria Day statutory holiday.

Arens is to attend a pre-trial conference on Sept. 10 to discuss details of how his trial will proceed, including confirmation of whether he will have legal help.