Three men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the Coutts border protest in Alberta had their court cases delayed until later in May.
Fourteen people were arrested with weapons and mischief charges after an early morning raid in February where RCMP found a cache of long guns, handguns, body armour, large amounts of ammunition and high-capacity magazines in three trailers.
Four men were also charged with conspiracy to murder: Christopher Lysak, Chris Carbert, Jerry Mitchell Morin and Anthony Olienick.
Carbert, Morin and Olienick all appeared in court by video from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre on Monday.
A lawyer for Carbert told a Lethbridge judge that his bail hearing is set for May 19. Carbert is expected to enter a not-guilty plea and will be seeking a preliminary inquiry into his case. Carbert will next appear in provincial court on May 20.
Morin has a bail hearing set for June 24. His case was adjourned to May 16.
A lawyer representing Olienick indicated they are waiting on the Court of Queen’s Bench to set a bail hearing date. He is expected to be back in court on May 3.
Lysak previously waived his right to a preliminary hearing and has elected to be tried by a jury. A request to set a trial date on Monday was opposed by the Crown counsel, who wanted to see all four men tried at the same time.
A Court of Queen’s Bench judge granted an adjournment to May 9.
Nine other individuals facing weapons and mischief charges also had their cases delayed until May 16 because their lawyers are waiting for more information from the RCMP. These individuals are Ursula Allred, Johnson Chichow Law, Justin Martin, Eastin Stewart Oler, Joanne Person, Janx Zaremba, Luke Berk, Jaclyne Martin and Evan Colenutt.
James Edward Sowery, the 14th person arrested in relation to the Coutts border protest, also had his case delayed. He is charged with one count of assault with a weapon and one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He will next appear in court on May 3.
Five national media outlets – CBC, Postmedia, CTV News, Global News and The Globe and Mail – will be in court on May 2 for their bid to get information relating to the search warrants that were issued for Carbert, Lysak, Olienick and Morin.
–With files from Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press.
Comments