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Court Briefs Sheriffs have nine months to secure court Northern News Services Published Monday, April 16, 2012
"That will give court services lots of time to get sheriffs trained or bring security in," Chief Justice Robert Kilpatrick said April 2. Makpah's manslaughter case was put on hold twice in late March over security concerns due to Makpah being free on bail, which means he does not require a police escort to court. Abraham Nakoolak, who is charged in the 2010 death of Donald James Gamble, is also free on bail. Makpah's preliminary inquiry stalled before it began March 26 when Kilpatrick issued an ultimatum that it would not proceed without proper security. Justice Andrew Mahar started it under heightened but unsustainable security the following day. Then the inquiry was adjourned March 28 because RCMP could not provide two armed officers for the proceedings. It is not in the RCMP contract to provide such security, the force said at the time. The case is scheduled to return to the Nunavut Court of Justice Dec. 10 to 14 and Dec. 17 and 18. VANEINDHOVEN GETS NEW TRIAL After the Nunavut Court of Appeals quashed his conviction March 8 in the 2004 death of his wife Leanne Irkootee in Rankin Inlet, Adrian VanEindhoven is getting a new trial. VanEindhoven was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2007, and was not eligible for parole until 2016. The reasons for the successful appeal have not been released to the public, nor have they been given to the Crown's office, prosecutor Jeanette Gevicoglu told the court April 2. ARNAKALLAK GETS PRELIMINARY INQUIRY AT HOME Ruben Arnakallak, who has been accused of murder, will get his day in court at home in Pond Inlet as Chief Justice Robert Kilpatrick set aside two days in July for a preliminary inquiry. Lawyers dismissed Kilpatrick's concerns that holding the inquiry in Arnakallak's hamlet would taint the jury pool for a trial, which he said should be held there as well. "You can expect a full courtroom," Kilpatrick said. "If a large portion of the community attends to listen to preliminary evidence, you will have to change venues for the trial." Both sides agreed that Pond Inlet remained the best for witnesses and for gathering further information about the case, and recommended the public be barred from the inquiry. FOUR BROTHERS ACCUSED OF FIGHTING POLICE It's not common for four brothers to share a bench at the Nunavut Court of Justice, but Mark, Tommy, Joseph and Louie Holland sat together and then stood one-by-one in front of justice of the peace Nicole Sikma March 29 to face charges of assaulting police officers. The men, aged 20 to 29, are accused of resisting arrest and each assaulting a police officer at the Baffin Gas Bar after the men left the Royal Canadian Legion in Iqaluit on March 15. The men return to court to enter pleas later this month.
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