Jury trial halted in death of Edmonton toddler after accused killer fails to appear

Hundreds of potential jurors were sent home from an Edmonton courthouse Mondayafter an accused murderer failed to show up at court.

A pair of Edmonton courtrooms were packed to overflowing with 279 people called to report for jury duty.

They had no idea the case they would be asked to sit on involved the April 2017 death of 19-month-old Anthony Raine. The toddler's dead body was discovered behind a north Edmonton church. At the time, police said the cause of death was head trauma.

Joey Crier and Tasha Mack are both charged with second-degree murder, criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life.

Crier was the victim's biological father and Mack was Crier's girlfriend at the time of the toddler's death.

Mack was granted bail in June2018 and Crier was freed on bail last September.

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At the start of jury selection Monday morning, Mack was in the prisoner's boxbut there was no sign of Crier.

His lawyer, Amanda Hart-Dowhun, told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Rob Graesserthat Crier had contacted her by text at about 9 a.m. to say he was running latebut was en routefrom Maskwacis, located about100 kilometressoutheast of Edmonton. Hart-Dowhun added she was receiving updates from Crier on how close he was to downtown Edmonton.

When Crier had failed to appear in court by noon, Graesser issued a warrant for his arrest.

He told the hundreds of impatient potential jurors, "The wheels of justice creak along very slowly. We can't start until everything is absolutely ready to go and there's one piece that hasn't fallen into place yet."

The group was provided with lunch, then dozens lined up to explain to the judge why they would be unable to serve jury duty for a month-long trial. Graesser excused most who asked.

By early afternoon, it was a moot point. All the potential jurors were allowed to leave when the judge decided Crier had lost his right to a jury trial.

If Crier is taken into custody, a judge-alone trial for both him and Mack will begin on Wednesday.