Andrew Raven
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (July 13/05) - Three men charged in connection with a decades-old rape case have been ordered to stand trial for a second time next month in Yellowknife.
The men - Antoine Michel, Noel Michel and Raymond Marlowe - are accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl in Lutsel K'e sometime in August 1975.
The three stood trial on rape charges last fall in Yellowknife, though the four-day hearing ended with a hung jury. Moments before the trial began, the Crown stayed charges against two other men implicated in the case.
Their new trial is scheduled for late August - exactly 30 years after the alleged rape in the tiny east-arm community.
Lawyers for the three men lost their bid Thursday to have the trial transferred outside of Yellowknife. A court ordered publication ban prevents reporting on the details of the hearing.
During a court appearance Aug. 4, defence lawyers are expected to argue the charges should be thrown out because of the 30-year delay.