Drug suspects have lawyers, but not disclosure
Election, pleas for Christopher Scott Phillips, 42, and Maurice Chester Paul, 43, set over until next month to give defence counsel chance to review evidence, meet with clients
Two capital-region men arrested and charged after police allegedly found drugs in a stolen car they were driving last month now both have lawyers to represent them, court heard Tuesday.
Christopher Scott Phillips, 42, of Crouse Road in Zealand, and Maurice Chester Paul, 43, of Fredericton, both appeared in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday, scheduled to elect mode of trial and enter pleas.
They face joint charges of possession of hydromorphone, cocaine, fentanyl, meth and Xanax for the purpose of trafficking; possession of a stolen 2021 Dodge Ram belonging to Kenneth Van Aarle; possession of break-in instruments; possession of cash deemed to be the proceeds of crime; possession of 22-calibre ammunition while prohibited by court orders; and breaches of probation, all alleged to have occurred Dec. 16..
Phillips is also accused of a related count of driving while impaired by a drug.
The defendants both appeared in court by telephone from jail Tuesday, as did their lawyers - Tim Murphy of Miramichi, representing Paul, and Heather Daigle of the St. Stephen area, representing Phillips.
Both defence lawyers said their clients weren’t prepared to elect mode of trial, as they hadn’t received disclosure of the Crown file as yet and also needed to meet with the defendants to discuss that material.
They said they needed at least a month to do so.
Judge Scott Brittain set the case over to Feb. 19 for election and pleas, and remanded Paul and Phillips again.
Both have been in custody since their arrest in the Islandview area of Fredericton on Dec. 16.
In a news release issued earlier this month, the Fredericton Police Force said officers encountered the pair when investigating a suspicious vehicle in the area on that date.
Officers discovered the vehicle had been stolen, police said, and Phillips and Paul were arrested.
Officers searched the vehicle - a Dodge Ram - and turned up hard drugs worth about $26,000 on the street and about $3,000 in cash, the release said.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.