MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM — Moose Jaw Provincial Court had scheduled a two-day preliminary inquiry to hear whether there was enough evidence on two issues against Jirard Stacey Saddleback to proceed to trial, but a pre-trial management meeting will occur instead.
Saddleback, 33, walked into provincial court on March 4 in handcuffs and ankle cuffs while wearing a grey sweater. His defence lawyer, Aleida Oberholzer, appeared by phone, while federal Crown prosecutor Suzanne Young appeared in person.
The main charge that the preliminary inquiry — which the Crown usually uses to test the strength of its case — was to hear focused on possession of drugs for trafficking, while a charge of possession of stolen items over $5,000 was to be spoken to.
Instead, through consent to committal, Oberholzer waived the right to the preliminary inquiry — available to offenders facing an indictable (serious) charge punishable by jail of 14 years or more — and agreed to set pre-trial dates in Court of King’s Bench. She also waived the other charge to that venue.
The pre-trial meeting will occur on Friday, March 22, at 9 a.m.
The defence waived the preliminary inquiry because the provincial Crown had already proceeded on Saddleback’s other — more major — charges through direct indictment and sent them to King’s Bench, Young explained afterward. The two charges that counsels would have discussed during the inquiry will go to that venue to “marry them up” because they’re part of the same incident.
The pre-trial management meeting will occur with a non-trial justice who can assist the Crown and defence in narrowing down the issues and witnesses required for an actual trial, she continued. The justice can also determine how much time a trial will require and whether there are any applications to be made beforehand.
A pre-trial meeting is usually 30 minutes and closed to the public, and assuming the counsels have made enough decisions or progress on the file, they could set trial dates, Young added. However, what usually happens is another pre-trial get-together is needed to address additional issues, such as the proposed admission of evidence or files, which may require one more adjournment.
According to previous information, Saddleback’s charges stem from allegedly firing on members of the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) on Oct. 22, 2022, during an operation involving the MJPS Tactical Response Team (TRT) and Regina SWAT. He made his first court appearance two days later, on Oct. 24.
Saddleback was charged with attempted murder, possession of drugs for trafficking, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of proceeds from a crime, and several additional firearms and weapon-related offences.
He had previously been sought on a Canada-wide warrant issued out of Calgary for being unlawfully at large.
The restricted firearm he allegedly used was stolen and had been equipped with a prohibited magazine with a 30-round capacity.
Besides the two tactical teams, the operation was supported by MJPS patrol members, the K-9 unit, the criminal investigation section (CIS), dispatchers, administration members, crisis negotiators, and a drone pilot.
