PC justice critic urges N.L. government to hire more prosecutors

An accused murdererwas freed of charges in Newfoundland and Labrador last week, and the Opposition justice critic is calling for more support for the government's Crown prosecutors.

Kurt Churchill's second-degree murder charges in Newfoundland and Labrador were stayed in Supreme Court last weekunder court guidelines intended to ensure the Charter right of an accused to be tried in a reasonable time.

Helen Conway Ottenheimersays there's aconcernfor public safety andCrown attorneys in Newfoundland and Labrador can only do so much.

"If our Crown attorney's office is weakened because of inadequate staffing, every single person in our province, I would submit, is at risk," Conway Ottenheimer said. "If we have potentially dangerous offenders being released into our community, you know, that's even going to cause more risk."

With attorneys handling more than 200 cases at a time, she said, the province has to act immediately.

Justice MinisterBernard Davis wouldn't say much aboutthe situation last week only that the decision to toss out Churchill'scase was now under examination by the Crown.

"Public prosecutions is looking into this," Davis told reporters at the time.

Churchill was accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of James Cody in St. John'sin 2020.

With a trial set forlast fall, the case was delayed after unredacted information was mistakenly disclosed to defence lawyers.The Crown then asked to have all three of Churchill's lawyers dismissed just weeks before his trial was due to begin last fall.

The defence successfully argued that Churchill's charge had passeda 30-month limit for SupremeCourt cases to be heard by a judge.

Churchill is currentlyin custody in Ontario on unrelated charges.

'They have to act'

In August, the head of the association that represents Newfoundland and Labrador prosecutors called on the province to invest in its Crown attorneys.

"Quite simply, the number of Crown attorneys has not been adequately adjusted to keep up with the increase in crime," said Shawn Patten, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown Attorneys Association.

When Patten spoke to CBC News last month, he said the province wasn't at the stage where cases are being tossed because Crown attorneys aren't able to bring them to court.

Weeks later that has changed.For Churchill's case, unless prosecutors appeal the decision and an appeal is granted, he will no longer be prosecuted for Cody's death.

But Newfoundland and Labrador isn't alone. Other provinces are in a similar position.

In April,New Brunswick announced its plan to increase the number of provincial prosecutors by 50 per centfollowing a warning from theNew Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association of astaffingcrisis and a risk ofthe collapse of the court system.

Conway Ottenheimer said Davis is avoiding the Justice Department's responsibilities.

"The crime rate is really concerningand yet we're not seeing the government take the immediate action that they need to take like we've seen in other provinces," she said. "They have to act and they have to do it immediately."

Without proper resources, Conway Ottenheimer worries more cases will be dropped.

"The Justice Department has to ensure the safety of the public and to ensure that the Crown attorneys office is adequately staffed and resourced so that they can deal with very serious homicide cases like you saw last week," she said.

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