Megan Gallagher: Saskatchewan judge condemns murder trial delay


A murder trial got underway in Saskatoon on Monday, with the judge harshly criticizing the time it took to get to trial.

Summer-Sky Henry and Cheyann Peeteetuce are charged with first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Megan Gallagher. Gallagher was reported missing in September 2020. Two years later, police found the woman’s remains near St. Louis, Sask.

Judge Richard Danyliuk asked the attorneys to turn in their chairs and face the gallery.

“Make eye contact with some of the gallery members. These are the people we serve,” Danyliuk said.

“The justice system does not exist for us, the lawyers and the judges. It exists for them… It exists for the people of Saskatchewan and Canada.”

Gallagher’s father and stepmother, who were sitting in the gallery, nodded in agreement, as the judge condemned the delays.

Danyliuk referenced Taylor Kennedy’s trial, where the judge stayed his charge of driving under the influence causing death because Kennedy was not tried within a reasonable time.

“We’re not going to end up like the recent Kennedy trial, where the judge had no choice but to decide the way she did it,” Danyliuk said.

“This trial will not be the subject of a request for a continuance… I will do everything possible to ensure that this trial ends with a decision on its merits.”

Danyliuk referenced a pretrial meeting on October 15, 2024, where he learned that the defense had been waiting for photocopies of evidence for 22 months.

“Twenty-two months go by and no copy of those documents ever came into his hands. Why? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’ve never had an explanation and, frankly, that timing is ridiculous.” ” Danyliuk told the court.

On Friday, the Crown filed a notice seeking a publication ban on Henry and Peeteetuce’s trial.

Danyliuk said he was not aware of the request until now, Monday morning.

He called the request “last minute” and a “breach of our procedures.” Publication ban requests must be notified at least three days in advance.

“This matter is like a glass of water that is built drop by drop. At some point, a single drop, a single event, causes the glass to overflow. That’s where I’m at,” the judge said.

In the end, a publication ban was imposed, preventing any details or evidence of the trial from being reported.

Danyliuk ordered that any further applications be submitted by Wednesday at 4 p.m.

“Not a minute later. Not a day later. Not a second later. I don’t care what you have to do to meet that deadline because this matter has been pending for months and months and months and months,” the judge said.

“Hire an agent, get a smart student to help you, call a friend, talk to a professor, I don’t care. Do it.”

Nearly 40 days have been scheduled for Henry and Peeteetuce’s trial.



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