Gabriel Del Bianco had a court appearance today at the court house in Sarnia, Ontario – this was his first court appearance answering to a raft of new charges. Please, anyone with any info on what happened in court pass on the word, or, if you come across any media coverage please post or send a link.
Also, there should be word out soon on the press conference which was held in Windsor, Ontario this morning regarding lawsuits launched against convicted Basilian priest, Father William Hodgson Marshall.
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I have been busy busy catching up on phone calls and emails since my return. I think I am nearly on top of things.
One of many things I wanted to do was find out if there is any possibility that Father Eric Dejaeger omi can have his charges in Nunavut and Edmonton Alberta merged/married.
Here is what I understand…
Dejaeger could have the charges merged, but only at his request and with consent of the Crowns in both jurisdictions. IF he asked for the merge he would have to agree to a guilty plea on the charges in the jurisdiction which he would be leaving. So, for example, if he were to request his charges in Nunavut be merged with those in Edmonton he would agree to plead guilty to the Nunavut charges, and vice versa. The guilty plea would be handled by the court in jurisdiction to which the charges merge, and so, again for example, if he were to agree to a guilty plea on the Nunavut charges in order to merge those charges with those in Edmonton, he would enter his guilty plea on the Nunavut charges before the Edmonton courts; the Edmonton charges would then proceed toward trial. And, again, vice versa.
IF he were to choose to have the charges merged, why would he do so? The chief reasons reasons would be (1) he/his lawyer perceives the courts in one jurisdiction (i.e., territory or province) are more lenient than the other; (2) he may prefer the jail in one jurisdiction (i.e., territory or province) to that in the other.
I get the impression from those to whom I spoke that it is highly unlikely that either Edmonton or Nunavut would agree to a merger.
As it stands, the preliminary hearing in Iqaluit is still scheduled to proceed 20 February 2011. At the present time Dejaeger is in jail in Edmonton and will remain there until at least 16 December when he is scheduled to make his next court appearance on the Edmonton charges. Unless things change, he will have to be back in Iqaluit by 20 February for his preliminary hearing.
So, bottom line, there is a possibility – but not a likelihood – of a merger. That means that barring a change Dejaeger will stand trial for his Nunavut charges in Iqaluit, and for his Edmonton charges in Edmonton. I suspect that, barring a guilty plea, while he is in Edmonton there will be an attempt to get as much of the legal legwork done as possible before he is flown back to Iqaluit for his preliminary hearing?
Enough for now,
Sylvia