Man wants new lawyer for third time

By Delon Shurtz on November 25, 2020.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A man who was expected to resolve dozens of criminal charges, many of them weapons related, has decided to look for a new lawyer, instead.

Jessie Hugh Flett was to resolve his charges sometime in the new year, but Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court Calgary lawyer Jessica Cartwright said she and her client had reached an impasse.

“There’s been a breakdown in lawyer-client relations,” Cartwright said.

Flett, who has already had 35 court appearances since January, was granted an adjournment to Dec. 15 to allow him time to contact Legal Aid for a new lawyer, his third since he was charged.

During a court hearing earlier this month, Cartwright said she hoped to set a date early in the new year for a summary disposition of dozens of charges against her client. The case was adjourned at that time to Tuesday’s hearing to determine a suitable date for disposition.

Summary disposition typically means charges may be resolved with guilty pleas and without the need for a trial. The Crown and defence generally agree on the facts of the case, but not always on recommendation for a sentence.

The case had been adjourned multiple times while defence waited to receive full disclosure. During a hearing on Oct. 6, Cartwright told court she had only received one of nine pieces of disclosure and was unable to determine whether the matter would require a trial.

Cartwright’s withdrawal from the case will likely result in additional delays while a new lawyer waits to receive disclosure and get up to speed on the case.

Flett, 33, faces 46 charges, including possession of stolen property, mischief over $5,000, possession of a weapon obtained by crime, drug possession, alter/destroy/remove a vehicle identification number, careless use of a firearm, and multiple counts of unauthorized possession of a weapon.

RCMP reported Jan. 6 that officers found at a residence near Brocket bales of hay that had been stolen from Pincher Creek. Police searched a home and arrested one man without incident. During a search of some property, officers seized 14 firearms, a large amount of ammunition and methamphetamine. They also found a truck that was reported stolen out of Pincher Creek earlier that morning.

Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter

Comments are closed.