A man accused of murder hasn’t seen the Crown’s case against him, but that hasn’t stopped him from being denied bail.
Judge Jim Hunter called it “unacceptable,” for the accused to sit in custody before his disclosure had even been provided.
Defence counsel Maurice Collard raised the concerns on behalf of Daniel Boyd Sawyer, 31, of Red Deer and Sawyer’s counsel Dean Zuk of Calgary. Sawyer is charged with second degree murder.
Sawyer turned himself into custody on Nov. 27 and has been held ever since. He was denied bail at the provincial court level.
Collard said Zuk had only received two pages of disclosure from the Crown and was frustrated because he knows he should have more.
Further frustrating the defence was an email from Crown Prosecutor Bruce Ritter saying that full disclosure would not be provided until February or March of 2016, unless there was a bail review.
The Crown Prosecutor read an email into the record saying the Major Crime Unit, who is investigating the murder, would not have disclosure until February, 2016.
Hunter called it unacceptable that an accused who turned himself in and has been denied bail would not have access to his disclosure.
The charge of second degree murder was adjourned to Jan. 11 and Hunter told the Crown he wanted either full disclosure to be provided or at what stage it was at and why it wasn’t complete yet.
Collard said it was Zuk’s intention to request a bail review in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench in the New Year.
Sawyer is charged with the stabbing death of Alan Beach, 31, of Red Deer. Beach was killed in the parking lot of Village Mall on Nov. 18.