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Lethbridge man accused in infant’s death consents to trial

Dec 13, 2017 | 12:51 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A Lethbridge man accused of second-degree murder in the death of nine-month-old Austin Wright, has consented to proceed to trial.

That follows a two-part preliminary hearing that went ahead earlier this year, to determine if there was enough evidence to warrant a trial.

The judge was scheduled to make his ruling on the prelim Wednesday morning, Dec. 13, when Tyler Brian Hogan’s lawyer, Tonii Roulston, instead provided consent.

“The standard test in a preliminary inquiry is something that we refer to as the Sheppard test,” explained Roulston outside the courthouse. “And the test is a very low threshold, and what it states is: could a jury, properly instructed, return a verdict of guilty based on the evidence before the court. [The accused] does have an opportunity to testify, but his testimony is given very limited weight. So, the threshold is very low. It’s way below a balance of probabilities, and it’s certainly way below reasonable doubt.

“Our decision, as defence counsel, was to consent commit, based on the evidence that was before the court and the test required in law,” she concluded.

The matter has now been scheduled for Jan. 8, 2018, in Court of Queen’s Bench to set a trial date. However, Roulston stated that it is too early to predict how soon the trial might go ahead.

“We also will have some applications – potentially change of venue, challenge of cause and so forth – that we’d have to address,” she told reporters.

Hogan was charged in July of 2016, following an investigation by the Lethbridge Police Service.

According to police, on Apr. 28, 2016, EMS responded to a report of a baby in medical distress at a home along the 600 block of 17 Street North. Paramedics arrived to find Austin inside the home, not breathing and in cardiac arrest. They transported him to the Chinook Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police noted that the results of an autopsy listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma not consistent with a fall.