Lawyer for accused in Lac-Mégantic wants case dropped due to unreasonable delays
Tom Harding faces charges of criminal negligence after 47 people died following derailment
The lawyer representing the engineer charged with criminal negligence following the Lac-Mégantic derailment will be asking the courts for the case to be thrown out because of an unreasonable delay in the start of the trial.
Tom Walsh, who represents Tom Harding, says he will apply for a stay of proceedings before the end of the calendar year under new rules issued last summer.
The Supreme Court of Canada's ruling last July set new deadlines for completing trials. Superior Court cases must now make it through the trial process within 30 months.
Harding's trial is not scheduled until September of next year, more than three years after he was charged.
"We're well over the limit that was set," he told CBC's Quebec AM on Wednesday.
Walsh said he will argue that Harding should have been tried alone, rather than with three others, to ensure he would go to trial within a reasonable time frame.
Harding was charged alongside railway traffic controller Richard Labrie, train operations manager Jean Demaître and the defunct railway company, Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway.
They all face 47 charges of criminal negligence causing death in connection with the 2013 derailment.
Walsh said many of the delays in his case were caused by the others facing charges.
"Our position has always been that Mr. Harding should have been accused alone, not with three other people," he said.
Earlier this year, Walsh filed another stay of proceedings alleging that Harding's Charter rights had not been respected by Crown prosecutors.
Backlog in Quebec courts
In Quebec, the Supreme Court ruling has raised concern that lengthy delays within the court system will compromise the province's ability to bring to justice suspects charged following investigations by Quebec's anti-corruption unit, UPAC.
Under the ruling, the provincial court cases must now be completed within 18 months, but can be extended to 30 months if there is a preliminary inquiry.
Any delays beyond these time frames are "presumptively unreasonable" and violate the accused's charter right to be tried within a reasonable time, the decision said.
Since the ruling, Quebec courts have received 222 applications for a stay of proceedings because of cases taking too long to go to trial, Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée confirmed this week.
In a separate case, Harding is also facing federal charges under the Railway Act and the Fisheries Act.
Those charges include two counts of failing to ensure the train was properly braked before it was left unmanned for the night and one charge related to the crude oil that flowed into Lac-Mégantic and the Chaudière River after the accident.
Walsh said he is not asking for a stay of proceedings in the federal case because it was only filed in 2015.
Harding has pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.