I was drunk, high when I admitted to violent crimes - defendant
Jhaquam Isiah Stapledon, 22, of Holtville, previously admitted to offences committed in Fredericton in 2020, but now wants to recant
A Holtville man scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for counts of sexual assault and assault to which he’d admitted previously is now looking to withdraw his guilty pleas.
Jhaquam Isiah Stapledon, 22, of Holtville Road in Holtville, about 75 kilometres north of Fredericton, previously pleaded guilty to indictable counts of sexual assault and assault.
The crimes occurred in Fredericton between March 1 and June 30, 2020, involving the same victim - a teenage girl whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
Stapledon was originally supposed to go through a sentencing hearing Sept. 1, but he was a no-show for court that day.
A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was located and detained Feb. 10.
Stapledon has remained in custody since that time.
He appeared Wednesday before Court of King’s Bench Justice Terrence Morrison on Wednesday afternoon for his rescheduled sentencing hearing at the Burton Courthouse, but the case went off the rails when the defendant claimed he hadn’t committed the crimes.
Stapledon said he was drunk and high on cocaine when he pleaded guilty last year and agreed to the facts alleged by the Crown.
However, during a previous court appearance, prosecutor Darlene Blunston had relayed the facts of the case to the court, and Stapledon accepted those facts.
Morrison said a hearing would have to be held to determine if there are grounds on which Stapledon should be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas.
The judge adjourned the matter to April 25 for that hearing.
No duty counsel was present to represent Stapledon on Wednesday, and Morrison asked court staff to contact Legal Aid New Brunswick to have a lawyer present.
But no lawyer appeared, and the judge said he was dismayed over that lack of response.
Morrison told Stapledon he should make an immediate application for legal aid to ensure he has defence counsel for his plea-withdrawal hearing.
If he’s denied legal aid, the judge said, the court will address the issue then.
“He’ll remain in custody,” the judge said.
The legal bar is quite high when it comes to withdrawing guilty pleas. A defendant looking to do so has to demonstrate he or she didn’t understand what they were doing at the time or appreciate the consequences of entering guilty pleas.
It’s an even more challenging legal test to meet after a defendant has acknowledged and accepted the facts of a case while represented by defence counsel, as was the case when Stapledon pleaded guilty.
He had been represented previously by Fredericton defence lawyer Gordon Shepard, but Shepard applied to be removed as counsel of record after his client’s no-show in court last fall.
The case had been scheduled for a judge and jury trial in the Court of King’s Bench last spring, but as jury selection was about to begin May 30, Stapledon re-elected to be tried by King’s Bench judge alone and pleaded guilty.
At that time, Blunston told the court Stapledon’s crimes were serious ones, as the violent assaults, involving choking and physical blows, and repeated sexual assaults occurred over the course of several months.
Stapledon is also scheduled to appear in Fredericton provincial court next week for a bail hearing on a charge for failing to attend court Sept. 1.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.