Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 28/04) - A judge is expected to decide today whether or not to throw out a meat-wasting case against two senior officials for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

A lawyer for Lorne Tricoteux and Alexander Glowach argued Tuesday that the charges should be dismissed because they were laid after the statute of limitations had expired.

"It's our contention the charges were simply filed too late," said Robert Davidson.

Tricoteux and Glowach were accused of squandering caribou meat following a hunt near Indian Hill Lake from Sept. 20 to 23, 2002.

They were charged with 16 counts of violating the NWT Wildlife Act in the fall of 2003, two weeks before the year-long statute of limitations period was set to expire.

But according to territorial legislation, all of the charges were supposed to be filed under a single count -- as opposed to the 16 levied by the Crown prosecutor's office.

To make up for the mistake, the Crown's office issued a new set of charges during a court appearance more than a month later -- several weeks after the one-year limitation had expired.

Davidson argued that the new set of charges are invalid and should therefore be thrown out.

Crown attorney Erin Eacott said the charges were simply an amendment to the original filing. If that's the case, they would be allowed to stand, said Eacott.

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz will make a ruling today. If the charges stand, Tricoteux and Glowach are expected to be in court June 22 for the start of their trial.

Each faces a maximum of 16 years in prison and a $16,000 fine.

Two other men involved in the illegal hunt admitted their guilt earlier this year.Their cases were diverted to a community justice committee in Rae-Edzo.