Four Calgary youth charged with first-degree murder in the killing of a city teen will face a preliminary inquiry this fall.
Lawyers for two of the four accused appeared in youth court on Wednesday to schedule a 10-day hearing to begin Oct. 29 and run to Nov. 13.
Defence counsel David Chow, appearing on behalf of his own client as well as agent for lawyers Rebecca Snukal and Katherin Beyak, as well as their clients, told Justice Todd LaRochelle they had appeared before the trial coordinator to confirm hearing dates.
“I’m asking that we excuse their attendance at this time. We’re simply here to set a preliminary inquiry date,” Chow said.
“Those dates have already been approved.”
Following Chow’s appearance, defence counsel Cameron Bally appeared on behalf of his client to schedule the same dates.
All four accused, who can’t be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, are charged with first-degree murder in the death last summer of Calgary teen Carter Spivak-Villeneuve.
The group was deemed to have chosen trial by a Calgary Court of King’s Bench jury when Chow made that election on behalf of his client earlier this month.
Once one accused elected a jury trial the others were automatically bound by that decision.
Spivak-Villeneuve, 16, was found dead in the 300 block of Abergale Drive N.E. around 1:20 a.m. last Aug. 1.
The case has been delayed somewhat as the Crown sought a court ruling the original lawyers for three of the youth, who were all 15 at the time of Spivak-Villeneuve’s death, were in a conflict because they worked in the same office.
All three subsequently withdrew from the case before Chow, Snukal and Beyak took over for their clients.
Bally’s client, who was 16 at the time, faces greater jeopardy if he is ultimately convicted and sentenced as an adult, an option the Crown could pursue.
Adult sentences for minors convicted of murder come with life terms, but parole ineligibility for those under 16 would be set at between five and seven years, while Bally’s client would face a minimum 10 years behind bars.
All four accused remain in custody.
Crown to seek to proceed against three of four murder suspects after the fourth loses his lawyer after start of trial
Tara Miller’s body was found near Okotoks on March 30, 2023.
The Crown will seek to continue a trial against three of four murder suspects after the fourth’s lawyer withdrew, in order to fend off a potential unreasonable delay application.
Prosecutor Katherine Love told Justice Colin Feasby on Wednesday there were several options on how to proceed with the case after defence counsel Shaun Leochko withdrew on Tuesday because of a conflict with certain Crown witnesses.
One of those options, Love said, was for lawyers for the other three accused waiving delay if their trial was to be adjourned.
But defence counsel Andrea Urquhart, Robin McIntyre and Jeanine Zahara said they wouldn’t do that for their respective clients, Shyana Popplestone, Jared Burke and Gurpreet Gill.
As a result, Love and co-prosecutor Britta Kristensen will have to make an application to sever those three from the indictment charging Leochko’s former client, Greg Schuster.
All four are charged with first-degree murder in the March 29, 2023, death of Calgarian Tara Miller, whose body was found dumped by a rural highway south of the city the following day.
In her opening address Monday, Kristensen said an autopsy determined the deceased suffered blunt force head wounds, was strangled, and had signs of forced ingestion of a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Love told Feasby that the accused were arrested in January 2024, making the deadline for a Jordan application to have the charges stayed because of a breach of their right to a timely trial this July.
The lawyers for Popplestone, Burke and Gill said they weren’t willing to effectively waive their clients’ Charter right because Schuster required an adjournment to get new counsel.
“This is not a case, on behalf of Mr. Gill, where we are using Jordan as a sword and not a shield,” Zahara said, of the Supreme Court case that set guidelines on how quickly trials must proceed.
“It is a protected (Charter) right.”
Despite that, Feasby said he was mindful of the advantage the defence would get if the case were delayed.
“I am not naive. I understand the game,” the Calgary Court of King’s Bench judge said.
“I am not going to stick my head in the sand and pretend there is not a delay issue that would result in a windfall for the accused.”
With the possibility of the murder charges being tossed, Love said an application to seek separate trials for the three accused and Schuster was necessary.
Feasby will hear arguments on the issue next Wednesday.