The setting of trial dates for the officer charged in connection with the July 2015 shooting death of 20-year-old Hudson Brooks in South Surrey has been delayed again.
BC Prosecution Service spokesperson Dan McLaughlin confirmed Monday that proceedings for Const. Elizabeth Cucheran were adjourned until Sept. 19, during an appearance Aug. 8 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
Cucheran is charged with aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with Brooks’ death, which occurred outside the South Surrey RCMP detachment, in the 1800-block of 152 Street.
READ MORE: In court: Officer charged in South Surrey man’s shooting death
She was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary inquiry that wrapped up in Surrey Provincial Court in December, and has elected for a judge-and-jury trial.
Last month, prosecutor Heather Magnin told the court it’s estimated that six weeks would be needed for a judge-and-jury trial, which an agent for defence counsel David Butcher indicated could not be accommodated in his schedule until the fall of next year.
READ MORE: ‘Ongoing discussions’ stall Mountie’s trial in Hudson Brooks shooting death
For cases being heard in a superior court, a 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision – R v. Jordan – set a ceiling of 30 months as the maximum amount of time between a charge and the actual or anticipated end of trial, “unless exceptional circumstances justify it.” Delays attributed to or waived by the defence do not count towards the 30 months, the decision notes.
Magnin told the court last month that the ‘Jordan’ ceiling date in Cucheran’s case is June 20, 2020.
She told Peace Arch News outside court that there were “several periods” where defence has waived delays.
It’s unclear if last week’s adjournment affected the ceiling date.
