http://www.1075kiss.com/news/headlines/
A mix-up has led to a delay in the start of a high profile Vernon trial. 25 year old Micheal O'Brien, who is being held in custody, was transferred to Vancouver court today, instead of Vernon, in a mistake by Corrections Canada officials. B-C Supreme Court Justice Allison Beames decided to start the trial tomorrow morning. The Crown and defence lawyers have agreed to take shorter lunch breaks or work later in the afternoons, in order to get the trial completed in the scheduled two weeks. Its not the first time court officials have made a mistake with O'Brien. He was accidentally released from custody in late 2004 in a paperwork mix-up, but was apprehended in Calgary nine days later. Crown Counsel Paige Johnston says she'll be calling 41 witnesses, including patrons of a nearby night club that saw the crash in November 2004. Defence lawyer William Mastop told the media, his client will be admitting many aspects of the Crown's case including that he was driving the stolen vehicle that caused the crash.Mastop says the key defence argument will be whether it was criminal negligence, or the lesser offence of dangerous driving. O'Brien is accused of criminal negligence causing death and causing bodily harm after a crash that killed auxiliary Mountie Glen Evely and seriously injured Constable Frank Grenier.
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