The accused in the Moe road stabbing incident near Decker Lake, has expressed his intention to plead guilty.
A court date has been set yet again, for Jan. 28, in the trial of Steven Rinas, who was arrested in April last year for the stabbing on Moe Road.
Rinas was expected to enter a guilty plea during his Oct. 15, 2020 court appearance, however, Dan McLaughlin of the Attorney General’s office informed Lakes District News that a new date was later set.
“It is my understanding that the accused sought several adjournments to explore certain options,” said McLaughlin and had no further information as to what the options explored by the accused were.
Earlier in April 2020, the Burns Lake RCMP had found a man stabbed several times, at Moe Road and after an extensive search, police arrested and charged, Steven James Rinas in connection to the stabbing. During his arraignment, Rinas pled not guilty to all the counts and elected to be tried by a provincial court judge.
The man, allegedly stabbed by Rinas completed his treatment and was released from care last year.
Rinas, 52, had first appeared before the Smithers court on Apr. 21 last year, after which his bail hearing was set for April 24. Rinas’ bail was denied and he was ordered to be detained on the charges. With four counts including charges of aggravated assault, two charges of assault with a weapon and one charge of theft of a motor vehicle, Rinas is now said to be expected to enter a plea deal.
“We expect that the accused will enter a guilty plea on January 28. Once that occurs we will address sentencing. That may occur at a later date,” said McLaughlin.
