Former Montreal baseball coach accused of sex assault on minor loses bid to throw out case
The trial of a West Island baseball coach accused of sexually abusing a minor will proceed after the case was almost thrown out due to unreasonable delays.
Robert Litvack, 43, filed a motion to seek a stay of proceedings after he was charged in 2021 on one count of sexual interference and one count of sexual assault.
Justice Jean Jacques Gagné dismissed the motion Thursday morning.
Robert Litvack, 43, leaves court with his lawyer on Thursday, April 25, 2024. He is set to go on trial in July 2024 on allegations of sexually assaulting a minor. (CTV News)
The defence had argued that by the time the trial was expected to end in mid-July, a total of 1,150 days, or roughly 38 months, would have passed since charges were laid, exceeding the deadline set by the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark Jordan ruling.
The top court set a limit of 30 months for trials to be completed in Superior Courts.
However, the judge attributed some of the delays — 249 days — to the defence, which means the total delay in the case was 901 days, or 29.6 months, since the charges were laid, just shy of the Jordan ceiling.
The trial is expected to begin July 15.
The accused coached minor baseball players and was a baseball coach and administrator with the Lac Saint-Louis baseball organization since 2008.
Litvack allegedly sexually assaulted one of his players during private lessons, police said in a news release after he was arrested.
-- with files from CTV News' Olivia O'Malley.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.