Raymond jury fitness hearing cancelled, lawyer plans constitutional challenge for judge-alone

The 160 people summonsed for the second Matthew Vincent Raymond fitness hearing will no longer have to appear.

The hearing scheduled for March 16 was cancelled, alongside any other jury trial and selection in the province, because of COVID-19 risks.

With the Department of Health asking people to limit non-essential social gatherings to less than 150 people, and the COVID-19 spread being considered a global pandemic, the Court of Queen's Bench chief justice said all jury trials will be cancelled until 60 days from Thursday.

The Raymond fitness hearing is no exception.

Raymond is facing four first-degree murder charges in the shooting deaths of Const. Sara Burns, Const. Robb Costello, Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright on Aug. 10, 2018.

He has been previously found unfit to stand trial because his mental illness was preventing a proper defence. Because of this, he has to be found fit again by a jury before the criminal trial can start.

I want this to move forward, I've done everything in my power ... to move this case forward in a timely fashion. I will continue to do that​​​​- Justice Fred Ferguson.

At the Fredericton courthouse Friday, Justice Fred Ferguson asked both sides if they wanted to argue against the cancellation, but the Crown was in support of it and the defence took no official position.

Defence lawyer Nathan Gorham says personally, he thinks it's a good idea.

"I would rather not being in a room and potentially infecting people or being infected," he said.

Ferguson said, even though this is a delay, it would be irresponsible to bring 160 into the courthouse and risk the virus spreading in such close quarters.

"I want this to move forward, I've done everything in my power ... to move this case forward in a timely fashion. I will continue to do that," Ferguson said.

There are now more than 170 presumed or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada. The virus could cause flu-like symptoms, including shortness of breath and a dry cough. It most adversely effects older people and people who are immuno-compromised. 

Now what for Raymond?

This fitness hearing was in jeopardy last week, but for a different reason.

When the jury found him unfit, Raymond underwent 60 days of mandatory antipsychotic medication. After the treatment order expired, the court had no power to force him to take his medication any longer.

Last week, Gorham said he's noticed a reversion in Raymond's fitness. He said Raymond was giving him directions that clearly go against his best interest.

The court had to pause dealing with this issue because of the COVID-19 cancellations. The defence and Crown will come back to court on May 4 to decide what to do next.

Meanwhile, Gorham says he's looking into launching a constitutional challenge to force the court to put this fitness hearing in front of a judge alone. He hopes this will speed up the process.

"The public benefits either way, whether it's an unfitness or a fitness decision, because if it's a finding of unfitness he'll be forced to get treatment again. If it's a finding of fitness then the case can proceed to trial, which is in everyone's interest."

According to criminal law, any fitness hearing and trial in a murder case must be before a jury - except for very rare cases where it's not possible to find an impartial jury.

Gorham said he will be doing some research and deciding Monday if he will file this application. If this happens, Raymond is scheduled to reappear on Tuesday for court to decide next steps on a constitutional challenge.