More than four years after the fatal hit-and-run of a beloved Chilliwack senior, the trial for the woman charged in the incident is finally set to go ahead next month.
It was Dec. 1, 2016 when Fourghozaman Firoozian, known as “Farouk” to those who knew her in the community, was struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk on Mary Street near Patten Avenue.
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| Fourghozaman Firoozian, who was the victim of a 2016 hit-and-run, seen here handing out food to the less fortunate downtown Chilliwack. |
Firoozian was transported to hospital but succumbed to her injuries.
Then seventy-year-old Linnea Louise Labbee was later arrested several kilometres away. It then took 10 months, until October 2017, when Labbee was charged with one count of failure to stop at an accident causing bodily harm.
• READ MORE: Charge laid in hit-and-run that killed beloved 78-year-old Chilliwack woman
A pre-trial conference was held Thursday (Feb. 18) morning in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack in advance of a scheduled trial in March. Labbee, who is representing herself, attended via telephone along with the judge and Crown counsel.
The contents of pre-trial conferences are subject to publication bans. These hearings are held in advance of trial to discuss procedure, witnesses and other matters to ensure the trial goes smoothly.
Labbee had a three-day preliminary inquiry in provincial court in February 2019, and a trial was scheduled to begin in 2020. Labbee, however, has repeatedly fired lawyers, which has been at least part of the reason for the delays.
After Farouk’s death in 2016, a candlelight vigil attended by more than 100 people was held, and a roadside memorial was temporarily set up.
Labbee’s trial is scheduled to start March 8.
• READ MORE: Funeral Wednesday afternoon as Chilliwack mourns a generous lady
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