And on it goes.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled against a claim of unreasonable delay in the ongoing sexual assault trial of David Kuntz-Angel.
The case has been unusual for a number of reasons, not least of which is because Kuntz-Angel is known from B.C. to Ontario for pretending to be American rock star David Lee Roth, a name listed as one of his aliases in court files.
After a 20-day trial in 2019, Kuntz-Angel was convicted of sexual interference, two counts of invitation to sexual touching, one count each of assault and uttering threats.
The crimes were alleged to have taken place in Chilliwack and Hope.
Kuntz-Angel faced 12 charges in total. He was alleged to have groomed the complainant from the age of eight to 19 when she complained to police.
Justice Neill Brown acquitted him in 2019 of sexual exploitation, sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm, and one count of procuring. But he convicted Kuntz-Angel of the most serious charges, including sexual interference.
But the case was not over yet.
Prior to the sentencing, the case was reassigned to a different judge, and Kuntz-Angel’s lawyer Chantal Paquette applied for a mistrial questioning the mental faculties of Justice Brown.
That mistrial was declared, and the entire proceedings began again in 2020. Incidentally, the B.C. Supreme Court announced the retirement of Justice Brown on May 27, 2020.
READ MORE: Mistrial declared in Chilliwack’s David Lee Roth impersonator underage sex case – Jan. 22, 2020
READ MORE: Alleged sex crime victim of Chilliwack’s David Lee Roth impersonator can’t continue to testify – July 30, 2021
A new trial was ordered, but then on July 21, 2021, Justice Terence Schultes ruled that the victim, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, was unable to continue with further cross-examination.
Defence then filed an application to have the victim’s testimony excluded from the trial due to a lack of complete cross-examination. On Nov. 1, 2021, Justice Schultes dismissed that application allowing transcripts of her prior testimony from the first trial to be used.
Kuntz-Angel then asked to have the charges dropped, a so-called Jordan application under section 11(b) of the Charter.
On April 22, Justice Schultes dismissed the Jordan application, meaning the retrial can now go ahead.
Final submissions are now set to end on August 26.
READ MORE: Chilliwack man charged with sexual misconduct says he was beaten up in jail
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