Lawyer for Sudbury track coach accused of sexual assault wants charges tossed

The lawyer for a Sudbury track coach accused in several sexual assaults is asking the court to throw out the charges.

David Case was first charged in spring 2017, along with one of his former sprinters, Celine Loyer.

At one point, the charges were based on accusations from three alleged victims who say they were sexually assaulted between 2009 and 2011, but now there are two—one who accuses both Loyer and Case of sexual assault and another accusing just Case. 

The two separate trials are scheduled for January, but that will be more than 30 months after the charges were first laid. 

Case's lawyer, Nicholas Xynnis, says that's past the deadline for getting charges to trial, as set by the Supreme Court in the 2016 Jordan decision

He'll ask a Sudbury court to dismiss the charges on Dec. 2.

"Delays in getting a matter to trial don't serve anybody and they definitely don't serve most accused," says the Toronto-based lawyer. 

Xynnis says waiting for the trial has been difficult on Case, a music producer and track coach best known for working with 1996 Olympic gold medallist Robert Esmie. 

"He's become very well-known in the community, it's difficult for him to go outside," says the Toronto-based lawyer.

"He's been assaulted, he's been threatened, he's been accosted, for no reason other than he's trying to live his life. It's awful."