Daily BrewLuka Magnotta to face preliminary hearing set for March 2013
Luka Magnotta, accused of killing and dismembering Chinese student Jun Lin, will be tried by a judge and jury at a preliminary hearing set for March 2013.
On Tuesday, Magnotta appeared in court, via video link, and pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder.
On Thursday, Magnotta appeared in court again -- this time in person -- at a packed Montreal courthouse, neatly dressed in a plaid shirt. His legal counsel did not request a psychiatric evaluation, as expected, but did ask to be tried by a judge and jury.
His lawyers also expressed concern over the accused murderer's well-being while at the Rivière-des-Prairies detention centre in east-end Montreal.
According to the Globe and Mail, Magnotta's chief defence lawyer, Luc Leclair of Toronto, submitted a request to the judge seeking assurances his client would receive medication. The judge agreed to the request but placed a publication ban on the type of medication.
Leclair held a press conference outside the courthouse, Thursday, where he said Magnotta's defence team will not be making any comments outside of court.
"Mr. Magnotta waived his rights to extradition because he wanted to come back to Montreal. He trusts the Canadian judicial system," said Leclair according to CTV News.
Crown spokesman Pascal Boucher said the 10-day hearing will begin in March 2013.
He added that the nine months between charges being laid and the trial is a "normal delay" in the court system.
