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Kabvitok trial to go ahead

Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 03/04) - Jury selection in the murder case of Donna Kusugak is scheduled to start Nov. 8 in Rankin Inlet after a Crown application to push back the trial date was denied.

After hearing the arguments of Crown and defence lawyers, justice Rene Foisey said "time is of the essence" considering the accused man, Allen Kabvitok, has been held in police custody for nearly 20 months.

"It's a difficult and problematic situation because both sides have some validity to what they're saying," Foisey told a nearly empty Iqaluit courtroom the morning of Oct. 25.

Kabvitok, 36, originally of Whale Cove, was charged with second degree murder in connection with Kusugak's death on March 9, 2003 in Rankin Inlet.

Kabvitok was not present at the hearing.

During the hearing, Crown attorney Judy Chan argued that scheduling the between 40 and 50 witnesses -- expert and otherwise -- has been difficult.

"We're up here in the North where it takes several days to travel," Chan said. "We have to recognize the reality of where we are."

She also said that in a small community such as Rankin Inlet, evidence excluded by a judge during the trial may still impact a jury's decision.

Having hoped to start the trial in August of this year, defence attorney Tim Kavannaugh said if necessary, expert witnesses could be interviewed prior to the trial with their testimony admitted later as evidence.

He said the trial could last as long as a month.

According to court records, a charge of improperly interfering with a dead body has been added to Kabvitok's file. Chan said she could not elaborate on what the charge meant.

Kabvitok remains in custody at Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit.