Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Jury Selection Begins Today In High-profile Murder Trial Of Dennis Oland

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Sep, 2015 10:58 AM
    SAINT JOHN, N.B. — There were long lineups and tight security at a hockey arena in Saint John, N.B., on Tuesday for the start of jury selection in a high-profile murder case involving a well-known business family in the Maritimes.
     
    Dennis Oland, 46, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father Richard, an accomplished businessman and active community member in the city.
     
    Five-thousand summonses were sent out to people in Saint John and Kings counties to appear for jury duty, but only about 1,000 of those were still potential jurors Tuesday morning.
     
    Line-ups of people waiting to pass through security and to register stretched through the Harbour Station lobby and into the pedway leading to the building.
     
    George Oram, the regional sheriff for southern New Brunswick, said a lot of advance planning had to be done for such a large jury pool.
     
    "It's one of the biggest we've undertaken here in Saint John and we have a lot of staff who have put in extra hours and a lot of effort has gone into this today," he said.  
     
    On the concourse of Harbour Station, concession stands were open and people were gathered in groups, chatting.
     
    One end of the floor of the arena was set-up as a courtroom. Prospective jurors were seated in the horseshoe of seats.
     
    Oram said jurors would be broken into smaller groups and given times to attend the courthouse later this week.
     
    "From those groups of prospective jurors that are drawn here today we will be able to obtain our jury over the next coming days," Oram said.
     
    Twelve jurors as well as a number of alternates will be selected. 
     
    The trial, which begins next week, is scheduled to last 65 days.
     
    Oland was 69 when he was found dead in his Canterbury Street office in Saint John on July 7, 2011.
     
    The Oland family operates Moosehead Breweries — the oldest independently owned brewery in Canada — although Richard Oland left Moosehead in 1981.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Police Issue Photos Of Man Wanted In Attempted Abduction Of 8-Year-Old Girl Near Stanley Park

    Police Issue Photos Of Man Wanted In Attempted Abduction Of 8-Year-Old Girl Near Stanley Park
    Police say the man is white, 20 to 30 years old, about five feet eight inches tall, has a thin build, dark hair and a bushy goatee

    Police Issue Photos Of Man Wanted In Attempted Abduction Of 8-Year-Old Girl Near Stanley Park

    Memorial Scheduled In Vancouver Today For Two Drowned Syrian Boys

    Memorial Scheduled In Vancouver Today For Two Drowned Syrian Boys
    A picture of the body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi on a Turkish beach received prominent worldwide attention and has sparked debate about the plight of refugees from the region. 

    Memorial Scheduled In Vancouver Today For Two Drowned Syrian Boys

    Canadian Couple Document Centuries-Old Oral Language In Effort To Sustain It

    Canadian Couple Document Centuries-Old Oral Language In Effort To Sustain It
    Erik Anonby and Christina van der Wal have dedicated nearly a decade to comprehensively documenting the language of Kumzari in a way no one appears to have done before.

    Canadian Couple Document Centuries-Old Oral Language In Effort To Sustain It

    Two Drown In St. Lawrence Near Cornwall In Suspected Human Smuggling Attempt

    Two Drown In St. Lawrence Near Cornwall In Suspected Human Smuggling Attempt
    CORNWALL, Ont. — Two men have drowned in the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ont, in what authorities suspect was a failed human smuggling attempt.

    Two Drown In St. Lawrence Near Cornwall In Suspected Human Smuggling Attempt

    Unions Need To Present Better Case To The Public In Rights Battle: Labour Leader Hassan Yussuff

    Unions Need To Present Better Case To The Public In Rights Battle: Labour Leader Hassan Yussuff
    Canadian Labour Congress president Hassan Yussuff said more has to be done to talk about the value of unions and their role in society.

    Unions Need To Present Better Case To The Public In Rights Battle: Labour Leader Hassan Yussuff

    Canada's Complex Rules For Refugee Settlement, Here's How The Process Works

    Canada's Complex Rules For Refugee Settlement,  Here's How The Process Works
    Here's a look at how the process works:

    Canada's Complex Rules For Refugee Settlement, Here's How The Process Works