Appearing at times confused, 73-year-old Terrance Finn appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon as his family looked on.
Finn is charged with the murder of his wife, 70-year-old Sandra Finn. She was shot Wednesday morning in car parked in the Home Depot parking lot. The shocking incident happened just after 8 a.m., as customers walked in and out of the Lansdowne Street store.
During Tuesday’s court appearance, Finn stated several times that he wanted to enter in a plea and get the process moving.
Finn does not have a lawyer. During previous court appearances, he’s been helped by duty counsel, a lawyer who works for Legal Aid and helps those without representation during their court appearances. A duty counsel lawyer is not paid by an accused and does not spend more than a few moments examining an individual’s case.
The judge, duty counsel and the Crown were reluctant to let that happen, Justice Lisa Cameron stressing to Finn that he was facing a serious charge, with very serious consequences if convicted. Finn said his phone had been taken away from him at the Central East Correctional Centre and he had difficulty making a phone call. He said he had called a lawyer but no one had arrived.
Finn also stated that he didn’t have a whole lot of money to pay for a lawyer or jurors, at which point the judge indicated that he doesn’t have to pay for the legal process, only his legal representation.
Finn also asked if members of his family could join him so he could be sure he understood what was happening, and asked if the same bus that brought him to the courthouse would be the same bus that would take him back to the Lindsay super jail.
At that point, the judge decided to adjourn the case for one week to let Finn decide if he wanted to hire his own lawyer. He appears in court again Sept. 4.
WATCH: Accused in Peterborough Home Depot parking lot shooting back in court (Aug. 24)
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