Danny Scout no longer has to return to court for the remainder of his trial because it’s all over.
The manslaughter charge he was facing has now been stayed.
Neither the crown, nor Scout’s lawyer wanted to speak to Global News about the court proceedings.
Wednesday’s move ends the six-week long trial for Scout and co-accused Rylan Twigg.
On Tuesday, a judge ruled two videos featuring Twigg — a police interview and re-enactment — were not admissible as evidence because Twigg did not offer the information voluntarily due to cognitive deficits.
That ruling prompted the Crown to withdraw the charge against Twigg, something his lawyer, Ingrid Hess said the Crown had said they would do.
“The Crown had indicated previously that without the statement, that there wasn’t sufficient evidence available to proceed further in the trial, and so the Crown invited the court to dismiss the charges.”
Danny Scout has now also had his charge stayed, which means the Crown has one year to apply to have the charge reinstated if they choose, but until then Scout walks free.
Both men were charged in the 2017 death of Ken First Rider. Police were called after they say a physical altercation broke out between the two men and First Rider. First Rider was dating Twigg’s mother at the time.
The Crown has 30 days to appeal the judge’s ruling on the admissibility of the videos.
Global News reached out to the Lethbridge Police Service for reaction to the judge’s ruling, but they declined, and said they are waiting to see if the Crown decides to appeal before making any comments.