A former Sudbury teacher charged with 18 sexual offences has had his trial adjourned due to late disclosure of new evidence from the Crown.
The trial of former St. Charles College teacher, Michael Zanier, was set to begin in Sudbury Superior Court on Dec. 2 but was adjourned based on a defence request that went unopposed by the Crown counsel, Mathieu Ansell.
Defense counsel Dean Embry told Justice R. Dan Cornell the request was being made so that they could take time to apply for third party records and “recalibrate” the defence approach.
Both Embry and the accused, Zanier, appeared in court virtually.
Zanier’s legal troubles began on June 23, 2022, when GSPS reported they received a complaint regarding inappropriate behaviour and touching at St. Charles College, involving a 56-year-old male teacher and students under the age of 16.
As a result of this investigation detectives of the Major Crime Unit arrested and charged Zanier with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference with a person under 16.
Police also included a request for more potential complainants to reach out to police, and by
Aug. 25, 2022, GSPS laid five more counts of sexual assault and five more counts of sexual interference with a person under 16.
Then, Feb 22 of this year brought two more counts of each charge.
In response to Cornell’s request for more information about the late disclosure, Ansell told the court the new evidence in Zanier’s case came from a separate investigation and “only recently came to light.”
The disclosure had only been provided last Tuesday, Nov. 26, said the defence.
According to the limited details added to the record in court today, the disclosure stems from the investigation into a 40-year-old administrator, who was arrested on Aug. 25, 2022 and charged with criminal negligence and failure to provide necessaries of life.
The administrator was identified in court Dec. 2 as the vice principal at the school where Zanier was employed, St. Charles College.
At the time, a release from police stated, “It is believed that students attempted to report incidents to administration,” which, given the nature of the crime, suggests police believe the administrator did not act on the complaints.
The Crown submitted Dec. 2 that one student had video of an interaction between a minor complainant and Zanier, and that video had been shown to the vice principal.
“He (the administrator) told them to delete it,” Ansell told the court.
But now, through the investigation into the administrator, there is evidence of texts and emails between the administrator and the complainant’s mother, as well as the potential for an internal school investigation that was not made public.
These messages are the late disclosure, and because of the need for a third-party application for that investigation, as well as the defence’s stated need to “recalibrate,” the judge agreed to the adjournment and the case was sent to assignment court on Jan. 7 to select a new date for trial.
There is a time element, however. The Canadian Charter of Rights, section 11(b) entitles anyone charged with a crime to have their case be heard within a reasonable time. Before 2018, judges assessed delays on a case-by-case basis but after R. v. Jordan, the Supreme Court of Canada introduced a new analytical framework.
The new framework is 30 months for cases going to trial in superior court, like Zanier's, and 18 months for cases going to trial in provincial court.
Justice Cornell asked the Crown if there had been discussions between counsel about “waiving the 11 b rights,” essentially, taking the timeline out of the equation.
The Crown responded that there had been no discussion.
Zanier will find out next steps in his case Jan. 7.
Jenny Lamothe covers court for Sudbury.com.