Election in drug prosecution hits snag
Christopher Scott Phillips, 42, opts for provincial-court trial and pleads not guilty, but co-accused Maurice Chester Paul, 43, still isn’t ready to elect mode of trial in trafficking case
One defendant in a capital-region drug-trafficking case elected Friday to be tried in provincial court and pleaded not guilty, but his jointly charged co-accused isn’t ready to make his choices yet.
Christopher Scott Phillips, 42, of Crouse Road in Zealand, and Maurice Chester Paul, 43, of Fredericton, appeared separately by telephone in Fredericton provincial court from custodial facilities Tuesday, scheduled to elect mode of trial and to enter pleas.
They’re accused jointly of possessing hydromorphone, cocaine, fentanyl, meth and Xanax for the purpose of trafficking; possessing a stolen 2021 Dodge Ram belonging to Kenneth Van Aarle; possessing break-in instruments; possessing of cash deemed to be the proceeds of crime; possessing of 22-calibre ammunition while prohibited by court orders; and breaching probation orders, all on Dec. 16.