Steven James Rinas was charged with aggravated assault and vehicular theft in an Apr. 15 incident of stabbing in Decker Lake and the hearing was supposed to take place last month. However, the hearing has been postponed and a fix date has been given to set a date for the actual hearing.
Rinas, 52, first appeared in Smithers court for a brief appearance on Apr. 20 after which he applied for bail and was denied. He is facing four counts, with charges of aggravated assault, two charges of assault with a weapon and one charge of theft of a motor vehicle and has been detained on these charges.
He was set to appear in court on Oct. 15 for his hearing in which he was expected to enter a guilty plea. However the hearing didn’t happen as planned and the matter was adjourned to fix a new date for the plea on Oct. 27. The matter has now been adjourned again to fix a date for the hearing, to Nov.3.
Burns Lake RCMP officers were called to Moe Road shortly after 8:30 p.m. on April 15 where they encountered a man who had been stabbed several times. He was then taken to Burns Lake Hospital and transported to Vancouver by a medevac flight, for further treatment. He has since been released.
Rinas was also scheduled for a bail hearing in October however, that hearing was also adjourned.
“The fix date for the accused’s application for a review of his detention order was adjourned by the accused on Oct. 21. The appearance to fix the date for the application is on November 18,” said Daniel McLaughlin, the communications counsel with the Ministry of Attorney General in an email to Lakes District News.
A fix date is when the date for an appearance is set or fixed and it is not the actual hearing.
The case will have a fix date hearing on Nov. 3 for the substantive charge and on Nov. 18 for Rinas’ bail review according to McLaughlin.
Since his arrest in April, Rinas has been remanded in custody.
