The first-degree murder trial for a Carmacks man accused in the 2017 death of Wilfred “Dickie” Charlie has been put on hold for a second time — this time, until April.
Yukon Supreme Court Justice Edith Campbell told the 12-person jury hearing the case of Tyler Skookum the morning of Feb. 11 that the Crown and defence were still in the midst of addressing the legal matters that triggered a two-week adjournment in January.
Campbell told the jury that when the first adjournment was called on Jan. 24, she’d expected the issues would have been sorted out by Feb. 11 and that the jury would begin hearing evidence again.
This, however, was not the case, she said, and the issues needed to be dealt with before the trial could continue.
She acknowledged a second adjournment — this time, for nearly two months — would be “more than an inconvenience” for jurors and invited them to write her a note if the new timeline would cause hardship.
However, no one had given her a note by the time court resumed in the afternoon, suggesting all 12 jurors were prepared to continue.
The trial will resume on April 6 and continue through to May 1.
The jury, originally made of 13 people, had began hearing evidence on Jan. 9. At the time, they were told that the trial was expected to take about four weeks. They heard from five witnesses before the Jan. 24 adjournment.
One juror dropped out after the first adjournment.
Contact Jackie Hong at jackie.hong@yukon-news.com