Judge irked over court’s isolation from office
King’s Bench Justice Thomas Christie says separation between Burton-based trial division and Fredericton courthouse hampers local judiciary’s ability to fulfil its functions in system
Irked over a delay due to a missing document, a Court of King’s Bench expressed frustration Thursday over inherent problems in the district’s trial division and main court office being located in different communities.
Justice Thomas Christie was presiding over an application at the Burton Courthouse on Thursday brought by the provincial Attorney General’s Office against a defendant in a drug case.
At one point in the proceedings, government lawyer Patrick Wilbur referred to a supplementary affidavit that was filed with the Court of King’s Bench the day before the hearing, but Christie noted he didn’t have that document in the file before him.
The judge said he was going to take a brief recess for a couple of minutes to read the additional affidavit before continuing with the application hearing.
But those two minutes turned into 20, and when court reconvened, Christie said the issue was that the supplementary affidavit, which was filed with the King’s Bench court office at the Justice Building in Fredericton, never made it out to the Burton Courthouse.