The Crown was originally proceeding by Indictment against Leschinski, which is the more serious charge. Prosecutor Scott Bartlett, however, told the court that Leschinski’s parents offered to pay to send him to a drug treatment centre - The Village of Hope - in New Brunswick. Bartlett said that since the Crown had proceeded by indictment, Leschinski wouldn’t qualify for a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) to be served in the community, allowing him to go to the drug treatment centre. So, to facilitate this, Bartlett asked the court to expunge Leschinski’s guilty pleas so the Crown could re-elect Summary Conviction, the lesser serious charge, which would allow him to serve a CSO rather than going to jail.
Defence lawyer Bill Archer said Wapass-Semaganis wanted to be present today. “I explained to her the process but she is most anxious to know what is going on. She has no prior criminal record and she is very nervous about the proceedings, which is probably a good thing.” At Wapass-Semaganis’ previous provincial court appearances defence had said a bail hearing would be held in Court of Queen’s Bench. First, a bail verification report was needed, which was ordered. A revised report was then ordered after the first residence for her house arrest wasn’t suitable. Wapass-Semaganis’ co-accused Denver Roy, 36, from Sweetgrass First Nation also had an appearance scheduled in court today. His appearance was waived.