By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Sawyer murder retrial moved to Calgary

Feb 5, 2019 | 9:01 AM

A retrial for a local man accused in a stabbing death outside a north Red Deer pub in 2015 is to take place in Calgary.

Daniel Boyd Sawyer, 34, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Alan Beach, 31.

Beach died from multiple stab wounds suffered during an altercation outside the Blarney Stone pub at Village Mall on the night of Nov. 18, 2015.

A trial that was supposed to take three weeks got underway in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench in November. However, after a jury heard testimony from a handful of witnesses the trial became mired in lengthy arguments over evidence admissibility. The jury went weeks without hearing any new evidence before Justice Bill Hopkins declared a mistrial on January 10.

Defence lawyer Chris Archer successfully applied to have the trial moved to Calgary in order to get an earlier date for Sawyer, who has been in custody in Red Deer since turning himself in nine days following Beach’s death. No trial dates were available in Red Deer through the rest of this year.

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Archer has also applied to have the case against Sawyer dropped due to the lengthy delay in getting the matter to trial.

Known as the Jordan decision, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2016 that trials for provincial cases should take place within 18 months, and higher court cases within 30 months.

It has now been 38 months since Sawyer was charged.

The Jordan application will be argued in Calgary May 1-2.

by Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Sawyer murder retrial moved to Calgary

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