Hearing set to decide whether men and women will be on trial for murder

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A week-long preliminary hearing was set up for men and women charged with murder, which Calgary police said were domestically related murders.

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Attorneys Dominique Hood and Jordan Curtis Bournesmith have appeared in the district court on Wednesday and have scheduled an inquiry to begin on December 12.

Hood appeared via CCTV while Smith was linked to court on the phone.

“MS. Smith, are you still there?” Defense lawyer Adriano Iovinelli asked at some point to make sure his client wasn’t disconnected.

Iovinelli told Judge Eric Tolppanen of the District Court that the elections on how he would like to be tried are automatically considered judges and juries because the two have been accused of murder. rice field.

“I want to schedule a preliminary hearing,” he said on behalf of his own client and Hood’s lawyer, Larry Heard.

Iovinelli said he was prepared to set an investigation date even if he had not received full disclosure of the crown case from prosecutor Shane Parker.

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“There are still some open disclosure issues, as this is usually the case.”

Hood and Smith were charged with a second murder on February 22 in connection with the death of 23-year-old Marshall Mason Russ.

Police responded to the apartment building on Southeast 6th Avenue, 200 blocks, around 9:40 pm that day.When the officers arrive, they are men in their twenties death inside.

They later identified Russ as a victim, and his death was considered a murder.

Police said the suspect and victim were believed to know each other and that a fatal assault had occurred as a result of domestic affairs. They did not elaborate on how the parties were involved.

Tolppanen ordered both Hood and Smith in custody to appear in court on December 12 for the start of a preliminary hearing.

KMartin@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @KMartinCourts