Unreasonable delay arguments brought in Radiohead stage collapse case
TORONTO — Charges against an entertainment company and an engineer accused in a deadly 2012 stage collapse at a Radiohead concert in Toronto should be thrown out after a legal setback sent the case back to square one, defence lawyers argued Monday.
Lawyers for the entertainment company Live Nation and an engineer, Domenic Cugliari, told an Ontario court that the case has seen unreasonable delays that violate their clients’ right to a timely trial.
The case had already spanned years when it was set back by a mistrial this spring. A new trial was ordered after the presiding judge, Justice Shaun Nakatsuru, was appointed to a higher court and ruled he no longer had jurisdiction over the case.
By the time the new trial is scheduled to wrap up next May, it will have been close to five years since the Occupational Health and Safety Act charges were laid — far beyond the time limits established by the Supreme Court of Canada, lawyers for Live Nation and Cugliari said in their submissions.