Edmonton court dismisses retrial application of convicted sexual predator

An Alberta court has denied the mistrial application of anotorious sexual predator whose case made headlines across the country.

Lance Blanchard was convicted in December 2016 of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault, kidnapping, forcible confinement and possession of a weapon.

His victim was a homeless, Indigenous woman whose identity is protected by a publication ban. CBC News published several stories about her using the pseudonym Angela Cardinal.

The casesparked outrage, and prompted Alberta's justice minister to order two investigations, after CBC revealed the young woman was jailed to ensure she would show up in court to testify at Blanchard's preliminary hearing.

• 'I'm the victim and I'm in shackles': Edmonton woman jailed while testifying against her attacker

• Sexual predator Lance Blanchard's lawyer denied access to victim's records

On Monday, Blanchard's lawyer applied to the court of Queen's Bench for a stay of Blanchard's conviction or a declaration of a mistrial.

Tom Engel argued that the Crown failed to make timely disclosure of a report by a detective that questioned Cardinal's credibility.

Engel told the court that failure breached Blanchard's constitutional rights.

Detective's opinion of victim's credibility is 'irrelevant'

On Wednesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Eric Macklin issued a written ruling dismissing the defence application.

"The determination of the complainant's [Cardinal's] credibility and reliability rests, and rested, with the court alone," Macklin wrote. "Any third party's determination and opinion of the credibility or reliability of the complainant would be unnecessary, irrelevant and inappropriate."

Engel said his client is "disappointed" with the decision.

"It's almost insurmountable for a defendant to get access to information by record holders that might assist in the defence," he said.

A hearing on a Crown application to haveBlanchard declared a dangerous offender is scheduled for January 2018.

If Blanchard is declared a dangerous offender he would be given an indeterminate sentence and could spend the rest of his life in prison.