Andre Denny trial delayed to 2016 for gay activist's death

A man accused in the high-profile murder of a Nova Scotia gay-rights activist likely won’t go to trial until sometime in 2016.

Andre Denny is charged with second-degree murder in the April 2012 death of 49-year-old Raymond Taavel.

Denny was supposed to go to trial in September of this year, but he fired his lawyer on the eve of that trial. He’s been trying to find a new lawyer ever since.

Thursday morning in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, a representative for Nova Scotia Legal Aid announced that two new lawyers have agreed to take on the case. They are David Mahoney and Robert Gregan.

Gregan was not present in court. He was only hired on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking on behalf of both lawyers, Mahoney asked that the case be put over until January to allow time for he and his co-counsel to familiarize themselves with the file.

Both Crown Prosecutor Darrell Martin and Justice Simon MacDonald voiced concern about the delays.

Justice MacDonald instructed court staff to try to find six consecutive weeks before a Supreme Court Justice. Two of those weeks would be for a voir dire, where lawyers would argue the admissibility on some evidence. The remaining four weeks would be for a judge and jury trial.

Denny has been in custody at the East Coast Forensic Hospital since his arrest in 2012. He was a patient at the hospital at the time of Taavel’s death but AWOL. Denny had been committed to the hospital after being found not criminally responsible for previous charges.

The murder case is due back in Supreme Court on Jan. 15.