The scheduled Monday, April 14 trial of a woman charged with public indecency and uttering threats was adjourned to Wednesday, April 16 for an anticipated guilty plea in Prince George Provincial Court.
Janice Marie Baptiste (aka Janine Victoria Abraham), born 1977, was charged with offences that took place May 19, 2023 in Prince George. The matter has been on the court schedule for various procedural hearings a total 23 times, beginning Aug. 22, 2023.
Baptiste was not in the courtroom when called a first time and her defence lawyer, James Emmons, indicated he would need additional instructions from her.
Judge Michael Brecknell questioned the Crown’s case.
“I can't drive around this courthouse on any given day of the week without seeing people doing one of the offences that Miss Baptiste is charged with,” Brecknell said. “There must be extraordinary circumstances, to get the Crown to proceed with that. I mean, we could walk down Second Avenue right now, counsel, if we looked at any of the alleyways, we would see people who, because we don't have enough public washrooms in this city for homeless people, who are doing their business wherever they have to.”
Replied Crown prosecutor Christopher Ferguson: “I can tell you, your honour, that the circumstances of that particular charge, count one on the information, they're not, it’s not simply that.”
“Okay, fair enough,” Brecknell said.
Baptiste was also charged with assaulting a peace officer on Aug. 22, 2023 and faces two counts of breach of a release order from November 2023 and January 2025.
Later, Emmons told Brecknell that he was ready to proceed with a joint submission with the Crown to resolve all of Baptiste’s files, but for a complication.
One of the files, he said, “has a conflict with judges in Prince George, due to the nature of the offence. So unfortunately, we're not able to call her matters in front of your honour today for this.”
Emmons told Brecknell that the judicial case manager said the Wednesday, April 16 schedule includes a judge-in-training who would available to hear the case.
