Sex-crime case will be before judge alone, no jury
Cambridge-Narrows man accused of sexually assaulting, touching daughter when she was under the age of 16 years
A Cambridge-Narrows man accused of sex crimes against his underage daughter a few years ago has opted for a trial before a judge alone, rather than a jury trial as originally indicated.
The 63-year-old defendant’s case on two charges - sexual assault and sexual interference - was before Justice Terrence Morrison for the Court of King’s Bench motions day Monday to schedule the trial.
The charges allege offences against the accused’s daughter when she was under the age of 16 between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018.
The sexual interference charge alleges the father touched the girl for a sexual purpose with parts of his body during that timeframe.
There’s a court-ordered publication ban protecting the identity of the complainant, so the Fredericton Independent isn’t naming the defendant, given the relationship.
The accused wasn’t present in court Monday, but defence lawyer Emily Cochrane appeared to represent him.
She told the court she had filed a notice of re-election in the case. Her client had originally elected to be tried in the Court of King’s Bench with a judge and jury, she said, but he’s since decided he wants to be tried by a judge alone.
Justice Terrence Morrison said the trial is scheduled to run for three days, from Sept. 6-8, and Cochrane and prosecutor Brian Munn confirmed those dates.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.