jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Loki Hulgaard, the man accused of promoting hatred while storing illegal firearms, is expected to enter pleas at his Aug. 7 court appearance.
Hulgaard was given “one last” adjournment at his Wednesday appearance in Medicine Hat Provincial Court.
This month-long adjournment will allow him to obtain counsel through Legal Aid, which he’s already in the process of doing.
“He does have some lawyers in mind. He’s not starting from scratch,” duty counsel Ian Baird said, requesting the adjournment.
Judge Gordon Krinke said this will be Hulgaard’s final opportunity to obtain new counsel before his next appearance.
“Something’s going to happen that day,” Krinke said. “The next step will be taken.”
Under the Criminal Code, judges have the ability to set a default trial in the Court of Queen’s Bench by judge and jury.
The Crown is anticipating a five-day trial.
Hulgaard’s most recent lawyer – James Rouleau – told court at a May 28 appearance he was parting ways with his then-client.
On Wednesday, Hulgaard claimed Rouleau misrepresented the facts of the case.
“I’m not interested in the relationship between you and Mr. Rouleau,” Krinke said. “I’m interested in the relationship between you and the court.”
Hulgaard, whose birth name is Brendan Stanley Dell, was arrested in August 2018 after attempting to spend currency with anti-Semitic slogans printed on it – the origin of the promoting hatred charge.
Upon his arrest, police exercised a search warrant on his home, finding four guns – two of which had their serial numbers scratched off – 1,200 rounds of ammunition and three over-capacity magazines. For that, he faces more than a dozen gun charges.
Breaches, charges stack up for motel standoff suspect
A man involved in a standoff with armed police officers at the Ace Crown Motel in late-May faces 19 breaches of release conditions, as well as several un-related criminal charges.
Kayl Libke, 40, who had a brief provincial court appearance via closed-circuit TV Wednesday from the local remand centre, also faces two counts of mischief, one count of assaulting a peace officer and three charges of disobeying court orders.
These matters were adjourned to July 17 to give him time to contact Legal Aid.
But Libke has a trial set on Aug. 16 for the standoff-related charges, for which he will be representing himself in the absence of counsel.
He faces charges of break-and-enter, uttering threats and criminal harassment in relation to that incident.
