.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE -Emrah Bulatci, 24, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in Supreme Court in Yellowknife Tuesday morning.

Bulatci is accused of killing RCMP Const. Christopher Worden in Hay River in 2007.

The charges stem from the shooting death of the 30-year-old Mountie in the early-morning hours of Oct. 6, 2007. Bulatci entered the courtroom dressed in a black suit with his hair combed back.

In the nearly five minutes before Judge John Vertes entered the courtroom, Bulatci leaned over and spoke with a member of his legal defence, Dan Rideout, nodding and looking forward.

Bulatci was also represented by Laura Stevens.

The plea came at the start of the voir-dire hearing, where evidence is heard and the judge "considers whether the evidence is admissible," said Crown prosecutor John Cliffe.

Cliffe said he expected the voir dire to take the entire two weeks scheduled.

"It looks that way," he said.

A publication ban is in place for the hearing, prohibiting any evidence or information from witnesses to be published or broadcast until a jury has been sequestered for deliberations.

Bulatci sat attentively during Tuesday's proceedings. He was placed in an area half enclosed with glass, occasionally leaning forward or looking to the door when someone entered the room. The courtroom was filled with around a dozen people, who all had to pass through a metal detector before being allowed in.

The jury trial is scheduled to begin in Yellowknife on Oct. 19.