Matthew Percy faces back-to-back sexual assault trials in 2020
One trial set to start only two weeks after the scheduled conclusion of another
Matthew Albert Percy must wait until the spring of 2020 for his next two trials on charges of sexual assault.
But when that time comes, the former groundskeeper at Saint Mary's University will face trials only two weeks apart.
Percy appeared by videolink in Nova Scotia Supreme Court Thursday morning to set dates for one of his trials.
Brad Sarson, his lawyer, told the court that Percy was re-electing trial by judge alone. He had been facing a jury trial after the Crown preferred an indictment against him, short-circuiting the preliminary inquiry process and sending the case directly to trial.
That trial will now begin on Mar. 17, 2020 and run for five weeks. The start of that trial comes just two weeks after the scheduled conclusion of another sexual assault trial for Percy.
A total of four women have accused Percy of sexually assaulting them. A judge acquitted Percy on one set of allegations from September of 2017, but that acquittal is being appealed.
Last week, Percy was convicted on charges of sexual assault and voyeurism involving another woman. Those charges also stem from September 2017. He is to be sentenced on Feb. 14, 2019.