Ten days before a jury is set to begin hearing evidence in the case of accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, defence lawyers opened the trial Monday with a renewed call that he be allowed to be tried by a judge alone.
Skibicki’s lawyers argued a motion last November that denying him the right to be tried by a judge alone was arbitrary and unconstitutional, but it was dismissed by King’s Branch Justice Glenn Joyal, who is presiding over the trial.
In February, Skibicki’s Legal Aid lawyers commissioned a poll questioning respondents about the case and are now using it as the basis for another attempt to have the case tried by a judge, and not a jury.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Defence lawyers for accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki opened the trial Monday with a renewed call that he be allowed to be tried by a judge alone.
Thursday morning, Joyal agreed to hear expert testimony from Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Reearch, the company commissioned to conduct the poll.
Crown prosecutor Renee Lagimodiere opposed Maggi’s acceptance as an expert, arguing it would “open the door” to similar evidence being proffered by the defence in any case where there has been media attention.
Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the May 2022 slayings of three Indigenous women — Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and Marcedes Myran — as well as a fourth as-of-yet unidentified woman killed in March 2022, who Indigenous leaders have given the name Buffalo Woman.
Earlier this month, Joyal dismissed a defence motion to quash the charge involving Buffalo Woman.
The Myran, Harris and Contois families have requested privacy during the trial, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs advised in a release Monday.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Someone once said a journalist is just a reporter in a good suit. Dean Pritchard doesn’t own a good suit. But he knows a good lawsuit.