Curtis Sagmoen trial moved back two months

Curtis Sagmoen will be back in court in May to stand trial on a charge of assaulting a peace officer.

Court documents indicate the trial is rescheduled for several days starting May 3 and for several more starting June 6.

It was supposed to get underway last week but was delayed after defence counsel raised concerns about delayed disclosure of background material in the case.

Lawyer Lisa Helps argued she needed more time to prepare for trial given the hundreds of pages of new information defence received from Crown counsel after the trial had technically already begun.

She told the court some of that new information could materially change the way it proceeds with the case.

The Crown also raised concerns that delays in the case could ultimately lead to the charge being stayed if the trial doesn’t conclude in a reasonable timeline.

The charge relates to allegations that Sagmoen lunged at a police officer who was at his property to execute a search warrant in October 2020, pushing her against the wall of a house.

A week earlier, police took the unusual step of issuing a public warning involving Sagmoen.

RCMP warned sex trade workers not to respond to requests for service from the rural North Okanagan area where Sagmoen lived as he was under a probation order not to have contact with people who work in the sex trade.

The North Okanagan man has been convicted of assault causing bodily harm and using a firearm.

— With files from Megan Turcato