A Woodstock, Ont., man charged in the high-profile slaying of eight-year-old Tori Stafford last year will be sent straight to trial without having a preliminary inquiry.
Michael Rafferty's defence counsel, Dirk Derstine, and a spokesman for Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney-General confirmed today that the accused man's preliminary inquiry will not go ahead later this month as scheduled.
Mr. Derstine said that he and his client are extremely disappointed that the ministry opted to short-circuit a procedure that can save unnecessary trial manoeuvring and enables the defence to determine whether witnesses give consistent testimony in a case.
Tori went missing outside her Woodstock, Ont., school. After a massive search, two persons, Terri-Lynne McClintic, 19, and Mr. Rafferty were charged with her abduction and murder.
The child's body was discovered months later.
Judge McDermid permitted the media to publish only one sentence: "As we previously reported, Terri-Lynne McClintic was scheduled to appear on April 30, 2010, in the Superior Court of Justice at Woodstock but because of a temporary publication ban, we are prohibited by court order from providing any further information until further order of the court."
Mr. Derstine said that Mr. Rafferty's preliminary hearing, scheduled for June 21, was expected to last about four weeks. He said that the Crown's decision to prefer an indictment saves very little time, meaning that it must be based on a trial strategy that is yet to become evident.
Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the ministry, said that direct indictments can be used in cases "where there are compelling circumstances that require, in the interests of justice, that the matter be brought to trial as soon as possible.
"Direct Indictments are only used where Crown counsel have concluded that there is a reasonable prospect of conviction and that the continuation of the prosecution is not contrary to the public interest, and where disclosure has been made to the defence," he said.