Further delays in murder case while defence waits for autopsy report
By Peggy Revell on September 8, 2017.
prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell With no autopsy report in hand, the case of a city man accused of second-degree murder remains stalled in the Medicine Hat courts. At a brief court appearance Thursday, the next court date for Noah Harrison Bentley was set for Sept. 21. Multiple adjournments have occurred as the defence waits for the coroner’s report to be made available. “Again the deadline has been missed,” said defence counsel Lyndon Heidinger, explaining the newest adjournment to the court. At the previous court date on Aug. 24, the Crown said they had made calls to the medical examiner’s office in Calgary — and that the report was to be available by the end of August. With the report still not available, the Crown said at today’s appearance it continues to make calls to Calgary, to try to push the report along. It was noted at the last appearance that one reason for the delay was the report had to undergo a peer review. Bentley was charged Nov. 12 following the death of Brenda Woloski. He has been in custody ever since, and he has yet to have a bail hearing. He has not entered a plea to the charge. Earlier this year, he was sent for assessment in Calgary as to whether he could be held criminally responsible. 9
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