Three days after turning himself into police, Dillan Meerholz won his release Friday after pleading guilty to violating a condition of his bail while waiting for a kidnapping trial to resume next year.
Before reaching his decision, Prince George provincial court judge Dan Weatherly heard that Meerholz, 24, failed to answer the door on Nov. 27 when police checked to see if he was back at the home by his 8 p.m. curfew.
It turned out Meerholz had left after getting into an argument with his girlfriend, stayed the night at a friend's home and called his lawyer, Brian Gilson, the next morning.
After confirming no warrants had been issued for his client's arrest, Gilson suggested Meerholz see his bail supervisor but she was not available until Tuesday. On Monday, Gilson once again confirmed that no warrant had been issued.
And on Tuesday, Meerholz contacted Gilson again and they went to the courthouse to check with the sheriffs about whether a warrant had been issued. After being told none had been, meaning they had nothing to hold him on, Meerholz then went to his bail supervisor who suggested he stay with his surety - the person who vouches for the accused while he is on bail awaiting trial.
But the surety refused to allow Meerholz to stay at her home, so he called his lawyer once again and was told to go to the Prince George RCMP detachment where, according to Gilson, he waited for 45 minutes to an hour before finally being charged, arrested and remanded at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.
Gilson said Meerholz has learned a lesson from the experience.
"In hindsight, he understands that probably what he should have done, if he had known better, was he should have checked himself into the police station on the night of the 27th and said 'look, I need a place to stay so I don't violate my curfew," Gilson said.
Meerholz is one of four men accused of a drug-related kidnapping and torturing that ended when the victim escaped from the home where he was allegedly confined and burst into a meeting at the neighbouring Ferndale community hall during the evening of April 15, 2012.
It's expected Meerholz will be released Monday and will then stay at a friend's home.
Meerholz's brother, Francois, is also in custody on charges of breaching his bail. A fix date hearing on his matter is scheduled for Wednesday.
