Trial scheduled for multiple driving, theft offences

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on May 6, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who was charged a year ago with numerous criminal offences, including flight from police and dangerous driving, is set to stand trial later this year.
Darcy Red Crow, who remains in custody at the Calgary Remand Centre, will stand trial Nov. 23-25 in Lethbridge provincial court.
Red Crow is charged with two counts each of dangerous driving, flight from a peace officer, drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of identity information, and single counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of stolen property under $5,000, driving while prohibited, and obstructing a peace officer. He is also charged under the Traffic Safety Act with one count of driving without insurance.
Just before 4 p.m. on May 31, 2021, Lethbridge police noticed a vehicle, which had earlier been reported stolen from Calgary. Officers with the priority crimes unit and crime suppression team followed the car as it drove to the Blood Reserve, where Blood Tribe police attempted to stop the vehicle before it sped away.
Police came across the vehicle shortly afterward as it headed north toward Claresholm. An officer in a marked RCMP vehicle attempted to stop the vehicle, but it fled toward Nobleford and eventually Picture Butte. Just after 6 p.m. the driver stopped and Lethbridge police arrested him.
Red Crow pleaded not guilty last August and was expected during a subsequent court hearing to set a date for trial. However, the case was later moved to an Indigenous court in Calgary, then returned to Lethbridge earlier this year with the intention to set a trial date.
In March Red Crow’s lawyer asked to be removed from the record, and shortly afterward Calgary lawyer Robin McIntyre was retained. She appeared in court Thursday to confirm the trial date in November.
There was concern expressed last summer by the Crown and defence that Red Crow may be unfit to stand trial, and he was ordered to have a fitness assessment. Court was told at the time there wasn’t an issue with Red Crow’s mental capacity at the time of the alleged offence, but events following his arrest prompted the request for a fitness assessment.

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