Crown pushing for accused to enter plea in alleged Saskatoon high school fire attack

The lawyer for a Saskatoon teen accused of lighting a classmate on fire in September says it's still too soon to enter a plea.

The Crown disagrees. Prosecutor Ainsley Furlonger says the bulk of disclosure was turned over to the defence in October.

"We are in a position for a plea," Furlonger said Wednesday in provincial court.

Defence lawyer Stephanie Pankiw said she's still reviewing medical and cellphone records related to the alleged assault on a 15-year-old. Further complicating the case, Pankiw said that another lawyer will be replacing her in January and will have to get up to speed on the file.

• Crown to seek adult sentence for alleged high school fire attack, defence to argue not criminally responsible

The accused, who was 14 at the time of the incident but is 15 now, remains in custody. She cannot be named because of her age.

The Crown has given notice that, if the teen is convicted, it will seek to have her sentenced as an adult.

The defence applied shortly after the arrest for an assessment to find out whether the teen was criminally responsible. Judge Sanjeev Anand granted the request to assess whether the teen was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the alleged offence.

Under questioning by Anand, court heard that the teen had been under the care of a nurse practitioner and had been diagnosed with a "psychotic disorder." She had also been admitted to hospital this past summer for emergency psychiatric care.

She is scheduled to return to court Jan. 6.