The man charged with second degree murder for the fatal stabbing at the Park Hotel last August was in court Wednesday to set a date for his preliminary hearing.
However, the proceedings were adjourned after Henry Stefanczuk's lawyer asked to be removed from the case.
“My client and I have come to a fundamental disagreement as to how this matter should proceed,” said defence lawyer Glenn Sandberg. “I'm asking to be removed from this case.”
After being in custody for five months, Stefanczuk, 55, told Judge Malcolm McLeod he had spent too much time in jail waiting for legal aid already and planned to represent himself for the remainder of the proceedings.
“It may be foolish but I'm going to be dead before I get my day in court,” Stefanczuk said.
McLeod advised the accused that representing himself was not a wise course of action.
“How do I put this politely?” he said. “You wouldn't perform brain surgery on yourself would you?”
“No,” Stefanczuk replied, adding that he wanted access to the jail library in order to prepare himself for his trial.
“Well, this is like surgery,” the judge said. “You can't educate yourself to represent yourself in the time you have.”
“When you get back to jail, you're going to call a lawyer right away.”
Stefanczuk argued he had difficulty obtaining legal aid during his period of incarceration and didn't want to deal with the same problems again.
“I would like to have somebody step in... but in the interim, I'd like to represent myself,” he said. “I have no choice.”
“You do have a choice,” McLeod replied. “Mr. Stefanczuk, you were charged with murder. You can get a lawyer out of Toronto or anywhere to take this. You're not going to have a problem getting a lawyer. This is what they do.”
The judge declined to set a date for the preliminary hearing and adjourned the case until Jan. 16 at 9:30 am.
On Aug. 1, 2007, the Greater Sudbury Police Service responded to a 9-1-1 call regarding a man who had been stabbed at the Park Hotel on Notre Dame Ave. Roger Giguere was taken to hospital with what was originally reported as non-life-threatening injuries. However, his condition deteriorated through the night and he succumbed to his injuries early in the morning on Aug. 6.
A warrant was issued for Stefanczuk, who was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
