By Patrick Burles - @Patrick Burles on Twitter

Lawyer Concerned by ‘Perp Walk’ in Major Assault Case

Oct 7, 2016 | 11:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE – A 20-year old man, accused in the vicious assault on a Lethbridge woman last week, made his first court appearance Friday (Oct. 7) morning.

Denzel Dre Colton Bird appeared in person, wearing a blue prison jump-suit as he stood in the courtroom prisoners box. Defence lawyer, Greg White, spoke on Bird’s behalf, saying Bird intends to retain him as legal counsel and that they would need time to prepare for a bail hearing.

The case was adjourned to October 20 and Bird was taken back into the holding area.

Outside the courthouse White took a few minutes to speak to the media, focusing on Bird’s transfer from the Lethbridge Police Service station to a van on Thursday (Oct. 6), and what it could mean to their case.

In the transfer – captured below by Global Lethbridge – Bird states, “I’m sorry,” when asked if he has anything to say.

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“I’m very, very concerned about what happened at the police station,” said White. “They have secure bays there, they didn’t have to do what’s traditionally called a perp walk. Everybody in Canada is presumed innocent, and by doing the perp walk, with respect, they may be violating his right to be presumed innocent, at least in the eyes of the public, it inflames the public.

“I appreciate this is a very serious case and everybody’s concerned about cases like this, but it doesn’t change the fact that somebody has their constitutional rights, the right to remain silent and the right to be presumed innocent, and when you take somebody before they’ve had a chance to hire a lawyer and even be in court, and walk them in front of the media, and then it’s published in the paper what he says, those sorts of things, I’m concerned that one, it’s a violation of his constitutional rights, and number two, it inflames any potential jury pool that might hear his case in the future, so that’s of great concern to me,” White concluded.

Bird faces charges of attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, and break and enter.

Police say the 25-year-old victim was walking to work when she was struck with a weapon, dragged into the alley off 6th Avenue South and sexually assaulted on the morning of September 30. They noted that the victim and the accused do not know each other and that this was a random attack.

The woman remains in critical condition in a Calgary Hospital.