Accused may schedule trial date for manslaughter
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on January 18, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com
A Fort Macleod man accused of killing a man nearly two years ago could schedule a trial date when his matter returns to court next month.
Cullen Drake Tailfeathers, 27, was set to stand trial next week for manslaughter and break and enter, but it was cancelled last November after Calgary lawyer Balfour Der withdrew as counsel, citing an “irreparable” breakdown in the lawyer-client relationship. A week later Calgary lawyer Jim Lutz went on the record and requested the trial be adjourned.
An agent for Lutz told the judge on Nov. 30, when the matter was again adjourned, that the lawyer needed time to go over 12 binders of disclosure.
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 was arrested three days later and he pleaded not guilty to the charges in August.
During a hearing Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court, Lutz said a pre-trial conference has been scheduled for Feb. 8, and the matter was adjourned to Feb. 13 in docket court, ostensibly to set a date for a new trial. A pre-trial conference is typically held with lawyers and a judge to discuss trial issues and find a date for trial that suits everyone. The date is then usually confirmed at a subsequent court hearing.
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