Winnipeg court rules against accused serial killer’s plea for judge-alone trial

Family and supporters gather at the Manitoba Legislature to protest the government delays in searching landfills for missing indigenous women, in Winnipeg on March 8, 2024.A superior court in Winnipeg has rejected accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki’s plea for a judge-alone trial, deciding on Friday that he will face a jury next week despite a constitutional challenge from his defence lawyers about potential bias.

Justice Joyal said the motion asked the court to override the consent required from the Crown for a judge-alone trial. “I’ve concluded, based on governing jurisprudence and the evidence before me, that this is not the clearest of cases required for me to override the Crown’s discretion,” he said Friday, as Mr. Skibicki sat quietly, wearing a grey T-shirt and jail-issue sweatpants with his ankles shackled.

This was the second time Mr. Skibicki’s lawyers had raised a formal motion for a judge-alone trial. The first was dismissed in January after pretrial deliberations, during which the defence said that denying him the right to be tried in the manner of his choosing was arbitrary and unconstitutional. Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, testified via video call about the veracity of the poll’s data and sample size. Christine Ruva, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida, spoke about the questions she formulated with the defence.Prosecutor Renée Lagimodière said certain legal definitions were not provided in the poll.

He added that the poll for Mr. Skibicki’s case was seeking a “snapshot of people’s perception” and did not require legal definitions. “This is public opinion, not expert opinion,” he said. “People’s inherent biases will come out regardless of logic or details.” “The articles and the coverage of the press has been constant and consistent,” Ms. Munce said. “There is a reasonable probability that the potential jury pool was prejudiced.”

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