The high-profile trial for a man accused of killing a B.C. teen nearly six years ago has been delayed.
Ibrahim Ali, who is charged with first-degree murder in the July 2017 killing, was not present in court on Thursday. The victim’s name is under a publication ban.
In his absence, the trial could not proceed Justice Lance Bernard told the jury before dismissing them until Tuesday. Further details of Thursdays proceedings cannot be reported because the jury was not present in the courtroom at the time.
Crown prosecutors had been expected to lay out their case on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Ali stated that “I did not kill” the teen three times through an interpreter when asked to enter a plea. The court ultimately recorded that as a “not guilty.”
Bernard then instructed the 14-member jury not to discuss or research the case, and not to be influenced by stereotypes, including that the accused is a Muslim man from the Middle East.
“You must make a conscious effort to resist and to help other jurors resist jumping to conclusions based for example or race, ethnicity religion or gender,” he said.
The victim was reported missing on July 18, 2017, and was last seen alive in security video at a neighbourhood cafe. Her body was found hours later in Burnaby’s Central Park.
Police used a controversial “DNA dragnet” technique to identify a group of people of Middle-Eastern descent. It’s unclear what evidence led to the murder charge.
Ali, a Syrian refugee with no previous criminal record, was arrested nearly 14 months after the victim’s death.
The trial is expected to last up to three months.