CALGARY – The man accused of second-degree murder of Maryam Rashidi in a fatal gas-and-dash hit and run will go straight to trial.
Friday it was confirmed in court that Joshua Mitchell will go straight to trial, which means Mitchell will no longer be entitled to a preliminary inquiry.
Joshua Cody Mitchell is charged with second-degree murder in the death of gas station attendant Maryam Rashidi, who was struck and killed trying to stop a driver from stealing gas along 16th Avenue N.W. on June 7.
“Normally in murder cases, there will be a preliminary inquiry first and then a trial in the Court of Queen’s Bench. In some cases, the prosecution will apply for a direct indictment which eliminates the preliminary inquiry and brings a case to trial quicker which is what the crown has elected to do in this case,” said Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak.
“We do it (direct indictment) in cases where we think that delay is something that we really want to avoid.”
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The trial is scheduled for April 24 to May 5 2017. If there was a preliminary inquiry, the trial wouldn’t have occurred until 2018.
The trial will be in front of a judge and a jury.
Ashtiana Rashidi, also known as Maryam, succumbed to her injuries on June 9, 2015 after a hit and run at the gas station where she worked in Calgary.
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