The Estevan Court House dealt with a number of prisoners on Monday. During provincial court proceedings on Nov. 7, the Crown consented to the release of Dustin Persson under a $500 cash recognizance. He is facing charges of break and enter, assault and assault causing bodily harm and must abide by some conditions, which include no contact with a co-accused. Persson's next court appearance is Nov. 21.
The Crown was not prepared to permit the release of three other individuals in custody, so show-cause hearings were held for two of them. In both cases the hearings were reverse onus, in which the accused must show why they should be released from custody.
Bienfait resident Grant Beahm was arrested over the weekend for charges of assault. Beahm was represented by David Hickie, and the details of the hearing are protected under a publication ban.
He was released on a $2,000 cash bail recognizance and will return to court on Nov. 28.
A 16-year-old Estevan youth was also arrested Nov. 4 after breaching conditions from previous arrests. He faces a number of charges, including assault, break and enter and theft. He has been arrested and released several times since March. Police arrested and released him with future court dates in April, May, June, July, September and October. The youth was remanded in custody and will next appear in court on Nov. 21.
A third person the Crown did not wish to release from custody was Leah Paige Ballachay Smith. She was remanded in custody until Nov. 10 after breaching her conditional sentence order. A show-cause hearing may go forward at that time.
In Regina court news, a decision for Estevan native, Reggie Harris's long-term offender hearing was adjourned until next Monday, having been originally scheduled for Nov. 7. The hearing, which began in April, will determine if Harris will be designated a long-term offender, which could potentially come with an indeterminate prison sentence. As of February 2005, there were 300 individuals registered as long-term offenders in Canada.
