Manslaughter trial scheduled for January cancelled

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on November 10, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A manslaughter trial that was scheduled to run early next year for a southern Alberta man has been cancelled.

Cullen Drake Tailfeathers was set to stand trial for a week beginning Jan. 23, 2023, but the trial was vacated Wednesday during a brief hearing in Lethbridge provincial court.

Calgary lawyer Jim Lutz, who only went on the record for the accused Wednesday, requested the trial be adjourned, and explained he needs time to receive disclosure from the Crown’s office.

Tailfeathers parted ways with his first lawyer, Balfour Der of Calgary, last week. Der told court there had been an “irreparable” breakdown in the lawyer-client relationship.  

Tailfeathers, 27, pleaded not guilty in August 2021 to charges of manslaughter and break and enter and commit an indictable offence.

Linden Blair Grier, 33, of Brocket, Alta., was found dead in a home in Fort Macleod May 24, 2021. Police were called to the residence at 2:24 a.m., following a report that a man had been injured. Attempts to save the man’s life were unsuccessful.

Tailfeathers, of Fort Macleod, was arrested three days later.

The matter is scheduled to return to court Nov. 30.

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