Upheaval in Toronto: Ontario Superior Court judge accepts joint motion from Crown and defense for teen No 8 to hold the trial of the young girl for unpremeditated murder before a magistrate only.
The trial of minor No 8, however, remains a joint trial with his co-accused, the minor No 7, and the date of the hearings remains unchanged.
The co-accused’s defense did not object. Their trial is therefore still scheduled for January 13.
- has numbered the 8 accused in the order in which they appeared after their arrest during their bail hearing to avoid confusion.
The minor No 7 appeared by videoconference from the semi-open Juvenile Detention Center Marjorie Amos of Brampton.
Her co-accused also appeared, virtually, from the house where she has been assigned under strict conditions since she was released on bail in the spring of 2023.
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Prosecutor Sarah de Filippis (standing) agrees that Minors Nos. 7 and 8 will have a trial without a jury after discussions with defense lawyers Tharziha Ganeshamoorthy and Boris Bytensky (seated left) during a final hearing on November 8, 2024 The accused are on screen.
Photo : - / Pam Davies
However, we do not know the reason why his co-accused is back in detention, because she was also released on bail after her arrest.
In their response to a question from Judge Campbell, the two minors stated that they understood that they were waiving their right to be defended in a jury trial.
According to police, Ken Lee, 59, was stabbed to death during a fight with 8 teenage girls on the night of December 17 to 18, 2022 near Union Station in downtown Toronto.
The defendants were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.
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Police say Ken Lee died from his injuries after a stabbing in December 2022 in Toronto.
Photo: Provided by the Toronto Police Service
The media is limited in the information it can report about adolescent girlsos 7 and 8 in light of the fact that their co-defendants will have a separate jury trial later in 2025.
However, there was no mention of the Crown’s evidence during their brief hearing Friday morning in Toronto. The reasons for this change are, however, covered for the moment by a publication ban so as not to harm the trial of their co-accused.
The teenager No 1 is accused of manslaughter and the minor No 5 of unpremeditated murder. Their trial has been set for May 5, also in Toronto, before the Superior Court of Ontario.
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The group bail hearing for seven of the eight teenagers was held on January 20, 2023, which allowed prosecutor Sarah de Filippis to pass her evidence to all defense attorneys before the individual hearings began.
Photo : - / Pam Davies
Lessons for adolescents Nos 2, 3, 4 and 6 also pleaded guilty during the summer to reduced charges in youth court. Three pleaded guilty to manslaughter and one to two counts of assault with a weapon and assault causing injury.
Two of them were sentenced to probation periods of 15 and 21 months. The latter two have still not been sentenced, because their respective sentencing hearings have not yet been completed.
The identities of all the accused are protected under the Young Offenders Act because they were minors at the time of the alleged offences.
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