Gjoa Haven man to stand trial for murder

(Updated on Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m.)

A Gjoa Haven man will stand trial for second-degree murder in his home community in March 2020, according to an order by Justice Sue Charlesworth made at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit Sept. 9.

Police charged Clifton Qirqqut, 27, in 2017 in connection with the death of Rex Sallerina.

Court documents allege Qirqqut killed Sallerina in Gjoa Haven on Nov. 16, 2017. Police charged Qirqqut the following day.

It appears Qirqqut has been in custody ever since.

An order for a 60-day forensic psychiatric assessment was approved by the Nunavut court for Qirqqut in June 2018. The assessment was to be carried out in Ontario while Qirqqut was in custody, according to the court record.

The order was necessary to determine whether the accused “is unfit to stand trial, [and] was, at the time of the commission of the alleged offense suffering from a mental disorder so as to exempt him from criminal responsibility.”

The order for psychiatric assessment was given two 60-day extensions by the Nunavut court, in December 2018 and February 2019.

Qirqqut’s defence lawyer, Allison Crowe, waived the delay caused by the extensions.

Murder cases can take no longer than 30 months to work their way through the court system, according to a 2016 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

But delays waived by the defence do not count towards that limit.

Qirqqut, who was not required to attend court Sept. 9, will stand trial March 23, 2020 in Gjoa Haven.

Correction

An earlier version of this story stated that criminal court cases can take no longer than 18 months to work their way through the court system, according to a 2016 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada. In fact, this limit ranges from 18 to 30 months depending on the crime. For murder cases, the limit is 30 months.