Delays plague case of Lethbridge man charged with violent sexual assault

The Lethbridge man accused ofrandomly attacking and sexually assaulting a woman before leaving her in an alleylast fall has dropped his defense lawyer for the second time in as many months causing further delays in his case.

Denzel Dre Colton Bird, 20, was charged in October2016 withattempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated assault and break and enter. Bird has yet to have a bail hearing in his case.

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Bird had been represented by Greg White before dropping him at an earlier court appearance on April 7. By April 20, Bird had once again retained White's counsel. Today, White removed himself as counsel for the second time.

Bird addressed the court byclosed-circuit TV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre indicating that he needed time to hire a new lawyer through legal aid. He requested an adjournment in his case until June 26to give his new lawyer time to review the evidence.

The Crown, represented byVaughan Hartigan, expressed concern at the number of delays.

"My only concern is that we get here on the 26th and Mr. Bird has another change of heart," Hartigan said in court.

Hartigan pushed for a shorter adjournment, to which Judge Paul Pharo agreed; consequently Pharo adjournedthe case to June 2.

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