Supporters lined up outside the courthouse, signs called for justice, while drumming and singing heard from outside in the packed courtroom gallery.
It has become a familiar scene at the Penticton courthouse as supporters, family members and the two accused of the murder of Roxanne Louie, Grace and Pier Robbotti, attend another hearing and face another delay.
“It is yet another delay, but it’s a delay that shows that the Crown is paying attention and not going to miss anything,” said Laurie Wilson, Louie family spokesperson.
Crown counsel Iain Currie argued with defence counsels Don Skogstad and James Pennington over evidence heard during the preliminary inquiry which began Feb. 2. Evidence that cannot be published due to an imposed publication ban.
Judge Meg Shaw, who presided over the inquiry, is going to decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence to make the accused stand trial for the offence, both Grace and Pier were charged with second degree murder.
It was a decision many were hoping for on Feb. 19, when supporters, including Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie, rallied at the courthouse yet again.
“I think everyone was hoping for one (decision), I think we probably knew it was going to be reserved, we were hoping it wasn’t going to be,” Wilson said. “They (the family and community) want to know and this kind of strings it out. You just want to get it done and then there’s another delay, it’s going to leave people unsettled.”
Wilson noted that supporters of Louie have some advantages during the process that many families of missing and murdered indigenous women don’t.
“I think this family has that option of people who know and can explain things to them. They are not as lost and not knowledgable as a lot of the families of murdered and missing women are. We have that ability in this family, very strong, very educated, very intelligent people,” Wilson said. “A lot of the murdered don’t have anybody in the courtroom for them. They have one or two.”
Though Wilson, who has a law degree from UBC, notes that knowledge of the justice system doesn’t make it work differently.
“The system doesn’t get better because we know about it, it doesn’t get more fair because we know about it, it doesn’t get more relevant,” Wilson said.
The Okanagan Nation and local First Nations communities are providing lunches for the supporters and families at the friendship centre in Penticton, something that has been helpful for the supporters and family Wilson said.
The Robottis return to court March 10 where arguments will continue, though it is unclear whether or not Judge Shaw will decide if the matter goes to trial.
“It’s that old saying justice delayed is justice denied, and that’s how a lot of us are feeling,” said Dan Wilson, Roxanne’s uncle.
