SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 25-year-old man will have to wait in jail for another five weeks to hear his sentence for sexual assault after Justice John Vertes adjourned the matter to Jan. 28 because his lawyer couldn't be present.

"This young man's life is on the line," explained Vertes at Shawn Jason Kodzin's sentencing in Supreme Court on Dec. 15.

Hugh Latimer, who appeared on behalf of defence lawyer Peter Fuglsang, told the court he could step in and represent Kodzin at sentencing, but Vertes decided to adjourn.

Crown prosecutor Glen Boyd didn't oppose the adjournment. Vertes found Kodzin guilty after his Oct. 25 trial. In the transcript of Vertes' decision, it states that on April 2, 2008, at around 4 a.m. Kodzin showed up at the victim's residence where she and her husband had been drinking throughout the evening.

At around 8 a.m., the couple went upstairs and both passed out naked on their bed.

The victim's sober cousin tried to get Kodzin to leave, but before doing so, Kodzin asked to use the upstairs bathroom. After about 15 minutes, the cousin became suspicious and went upstairs.

He saw Kodzin on top of the victim having intercourse with her while she was passed out while the husband lay asleep beside them. The cousin yelled at Kodzin, who fled the residence leaving his wallet, underwear and pants behind, said Vertes.

Law Society elects new president

Sheila MacPherson was elected the new president for the NWT Law Society at the general meeting Dec. 4.

MacPherson, a partner with the law firm Lawson Lundell LLP, was admitted to the NWT bar in 1988, one year after graduating from the law program at Dalhousie University.

Her area of practice is civil law, and she routinely advises the GNWT and the Government of Nunavut on matters before the court, according to her biography on Lawson Lundell's website.

MacPherson will be joined on the 2011 executive by vice-president Erin Delaney, secretary Cayley Thomas, treasurer Janice Walsh and Maureen Crotty-Williams.

This is MacPherson's second stint as president of the NWT Law Society, having previously served in 1997.

Woman accused of theft back in court

Monica Audrey Casaway's request to have her theft charges transferred to Alberta was discussed in territorial court again on Dec. 14. Casaway, a former NWT Mine Training Society financial officer now residing in Edmonton, is accused of stealing $18,039.45 from the society between Aug. 17 and Nov. 12, 2007, in Yellowknife.

Yellowknife RCMP charged Casaway on April 1, 2008, but they was unable to locate her. On May 9, 2008, a warrant for her arrest was issued. She turned herself in to Yellowknife RCMP two years later on Aug. 10, 2010.

Casaway, 49, must now consent to pleading guilty to the charges in Alberta before having the matter transferred south. Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh told the court the Crown is "content" with waiving the charges. Judge Christine Gagnon adjourned the matter until Jan. 25, when the status of Casaway's guilty plea will be revisited.

If it hasn't, a trial date in Yellowknife may be set.