A provincial court judge has thrown out a case against two men charged with assault causing bodily harm in Fort Fraser because the trial had not been completed two years after their arrest and is blaming a lack of court resources for the delay.
"The Court constantly strives to serve the public interest in the administration of justice in the face of dwindling resources and burgeoning case load," Judge Michael Brecknell concluded in a 22-page judgment issued this week.
"Only government can reestablish the necessary and appropriate level of judicial and support resources."
Kevin Kaiser and Rodney Kaise were arrested on July 6, 2009 on charges of breaking into a Fort Fraser home the evening before and assaulting Boyd Lackey, two days after Lackey allegedly assaulted the accused's father in his home.
The matter did reach the trial stage in Vanderhoof provincial court on July 26, 2010, but that was 11 months after the charges were sworn, Brecknell noted. Because the court had to deal with other matters at the same time, less than six hours of testimony was heard over three days before it was adjourned and no subsequent dates for continuing the trial were ever set.
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