The man charged with killing Abbotsford Police officer is expected to go to trial next year.
Jury selection in the trial of has been scheduled to start Jan. 3, 2019 in B.C. Supreme Court in Chilliwack. Cases sometimes proceed immediately upon the completion of jury selection, but more commonly they are adjourned to a later date.
Arfmann, 65, has been charged with first-degree murder in Davidson鈥檚 killing, which occurred Nov. 6, 2017 at a strip mall on Mt. Lehman Road in Abbotsford.
Davidson, 53, was the first officer on scene after police received reports of shots being fired at civilians.
He was and was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after.
Arfmann was arrested not far from the scene following a police chase that ended in a crash and with more shots being fired. He was shot in the incident and was taken to hospital.
UBC law professor Janine Benedet said it鈥檚 difficult to speculate about what defence could be raised in any particular case.
鈥淏ut this does seem like a case in which a claim of not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder would be anticipated,鈥� she said.
Benedet said Crown has the onus, in first-degree murder, of proving that the accused intended to cause death 鈥� or intended to cause bodily harm he knew was likely to cause death 鈥� 鈥渟o there can be arguments based on the fact that the death was not intentional.鈥�
鈥淔or example, intoxication can be raised to negate this intent, which would make someone guilty of manslaughter not murder,鈥� she said.
Benedet also pointed out that an accused in a first-degree murder case could, after a period of negotiation, plead guilty to a lesser charge 鈥� such as second-degree murder 鈥� and forego the trial.
鈥淭his can happen right up to the start of the trial,鈥� she said.
Benedet said the 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of murder trials are by judge and jury and not judge alone.
Meanwhile, another Abbotsford murder case is also getting closer to trial.
, 23, is currently before the courts on pre-trial applications related to whether certain evidence should be allowed at his trial.
His trial is scheduled to begin May 7 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster but that could be delayed, depending on how long the other proceedings take.
Klein is charged with second-degree murder in the of 13-year-old Letisha Reimer at Abbotsford Senior Secondary on Nov. 1, 2016.
He is also charged with the aggravated assault of Reimer鈥檚 friend (who cannot be named due to a publication ban), who was 14 at the time of the attack.
