The provincial Crown on Wednesday, March 3, closed its case against Grand Forks’ Edward “Joe” Wright, who is standing trial for allegedly breaking into a North Ruckle shed in August 2019. The shed is located on a property left vacant after the 2018 freshet, which devastated the area, the court heard.
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Judge Phillip Seagram adjourned the matter to Tuesday, March 9, when the court will fix a date to hear evidence submitted by Wright’s attorney, according to court documents.
The court heard testimony from a Grand Forks Mountie and two city men identified as the property owner and his neighbour. Cst. Amber Spriggs told the court she arrested Wright at the scene after the neighbour told her he’d watched Wright rummaging through the shed for around 15 minutes.
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The property owner later told police that nothing had been stolen from his shed, she added.
A search of Wright and his backpack, also found at the scene, turned up knives, two hatchets, an empty, prohibited length magazine for a nine-millimetre pistol, imitation brass knuckles (i.e., made of plastic), several hand tools and an 11-inch metal file, she said. Wright had apparently entered the shed, which Spriggs said was locked at the time, through a broken window.
Cross-examining Spriggs, Wright’s attorney established that she’d been on the job for two months when she arrested Wright by which point she said she’d never investigated a suspected break and enter on her own. Spriggs said she’d been trained in gathering and processing case evidence at the RCMP Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Wright maintains his not guilty plea, he told the court.
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laurie.tritschler@boundarycreektimes.com
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