The charge against a prominent COVID-mandate protestor accused of causing a disturbance at an informal 2021 Remembrance Day ceremony in Kelowna has been stayed.
The charge was stayed on Nov. 28, just a week before Linda Jackson’s trial was set to begin.
“The decision to stay the charges was made after Crown Counsel concluded that the charge assessment standard could not be met,” a BC Prosecution Service representative said.
If prosecutors are satisfied that the evidentiary test is met, they must determine whether the public interest requires a prosecution.
The charge assessment policy sets out a non-exhaustive list of public interest factors both for and against a prosecution for prosecutors to consider.
Jackson was charged on April 12, 2022, and represented herself ever since.
She delayed entering a plea until April 2023, telling the court she was going to abstain until she received video footage of the Nov. 11, 2021, Remembrance Day melee from media organizations that were present.
Jackson was accused of being one of several anti-COVID-19 mandate protesters who gathered at the cenotaph in City Park on that morning and interrupted the gathering.