Gerald Stanley due back in court to face charges he improperly stored 7 guns

The legal troubles of Gerald Stanley, the Saskatchewan farmer acquitted in the shooting death of Colten Boushie, are slated to carry over into provincial court next month.

Stanley, 56, still faces two charges of improperly storing firearms on his Biggar, Sask.-area farm where Boushie was killed.

Boushie, 22, was shot with a Russian-made, semi-automatic Tokarev pistol after he and four others drove onto Stanley's cattle farm in August 2016.

Stanley testified in the Battleford Court of Queen's Bench that the Tokarev accidentally went off while he held it near Boushie's head. He had retrieved the gun from his shop.

A jury acquitted Stanley of 2nd-degree murder or manslaughter in Boushie's death.

7 firearms tied to charges

Stanley is now scheduled to face the improper firearm storage charges in North Battleford Provincial Court on March 19.

Scott Spencer, Stanley's defence attorney during the murder trial, said he will again represent Stanley.

The charges are tied to seven of the 10 firearms found by the RCMP during a search of the Stanley farmhouse and shop two days after Boushie was shot.

RCMP found both the Tokarev and a Ruger Blackhawk revolver inside a black case in a farmhouse closet.

While the revolver is listed among the guns said to be improperly stored, the Tokarev connected to Boushie's death is not.

The Ministry of Justice wouldn't comment on why that is.

But Solomon Friedman, an Ottawa-based defence attorney with a focus on firearms law, said it could be argued the Tokarev wasn't being stored in any long-term sense.

"The Tokarev was in use. The fact that he put it down temporarily in there until the police got there means that it probably technically wasn't stored," said Solomon.

"You don't want it in front of you or you don't want to be holding it when the police arrive," he added. "It's not to shift blame or anything. It's just because you don't want there to be some terrible misunderstanding [with police]."

'Maybe a fine'

Friedman said it's possible Stanley could come to a plea agreement with Crown prosecutors before his court date.

And if he doesn't?

"In my experience, somebody living in a rural property who's otherwise licensed but they haven't complied with the letter of the law when it comes to storage, they tend to be looking at non-jail sentences, anywhere from a discharge to a suspended sentence, maybe a fine."