Two men charged with beating a man into unconsciousness with a broom handle inside the Sudbury District Jail 16 months ago have opted to have their trial heard by judge only in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
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Christopher Mitchell, 32, and Keith Moro, 30, were both charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon for an incident inside the jail on March 20, 2001.
Mitchell also faces an additional charge of breach of probation.
Justice Guy Mahaffy ordered a ban on publication of all evidence presented at the preliminary hearing into this matter.
The preliminary hearing, which started Thursday, is expected to wrap up during the next court date in August.
The victim, aged 48, had only two weeks to serve on a drunk-driving sentence at the time he alleges two men attacked and assaulted him by repeatedly striking him with a broom handle inside the jail. He suffered serious head injuries.
Last December, Mitchell was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in a federal penitentiary for a daring midday robbery of a Toronto bank in April of 2001, just a couple of weeks after his participation in the alleged jail assault.
Mitchell robbed the bank with a loaded weapon.
Mitchell owed an outstanding drug debt and made the trip to Hogtown specifically to rob the bank.
Brandishing a loaded handgun, Mitchell, a longtime drug user and career criminal, held the weapon to the head of two tellers and threatened them before they turned over more than $17,000 in cash.
While exiting the bank, Mitchell had the misfortune to run into a burly construction worker, who removed a hammer from his tool belt and started using it to subdue Mitchell.
During the tussle, the handgun Mitchell had placed inside the money bag came loose and an attentive bank employee kicked it out of the way before a large contingent of police arrived with guns drawn and placed Mitchell under arrest.
Mitchell committed the armed robbery while out on bail on charges of heroin trafficking and possession of a prohibited semi-automatic handgun here in Sudbury.
A report in a Toronto newspaper indicated the presiding judge in Toronto had great difficulty accepting the joint submission for the five-and-a-half-year penitentiary term in relation to the bank robbery.
Not only was Mitchell on bail at the time, but also has a horrific criminal record, and the robbery was extremely violent; many people inside the bank were petrified and in fear of their lives, said the judge.
The judge also commented how many people in the community would not be upset if Mitchell were to receive a life sentence considering the violence and circumstances of the armed robbery.
