CBC: Crown’s ‘very thin case’ against Raymond Cormier made conviction unlikely, lawyers say

Law professor David Milward provides some context to a recent CBC story on the trail of Raymond Currie: 

David Milward, law professor at the University of Manitoba, disagrees that Cormier’s case would necessarily not have made it past a preliminary inquiry. Cormier’s defence tried to have the case thrown out after the Crown had presented all of its evidence, arguing there wasn’t enough for any jury to convict, but Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal rejected the motion.

Milward suspects the decision to ask for a direct indictment had more to do with the pressure put on the Crown to bring the case to trial quickly.

“You have Tina Fontaine, a young Indigenous girl who was murdered, yet another missing and murdered Indigenous women case, very much a public lightning rod. It struck me as this is one where the prosecution wanted to move very swiftly,” he said.