By Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative
A man accused of second-degree murder in the death of a Rothesay woman this past spring will face a preliminary inquiry starting in July.
Calvin Burns-Smith, 31, has changed lawyers and needed a new preliminary inquiry date, court heard Monday. Burns-Smith, of no fixed address, was set to face a preliminary inquiry in May after having his charges upgraded from manslaughter to murder in August.
Burns-Smith is accused of killing Sarah Teakles, 26, a Rothesay woman who was found dead in Maces Bay days after having been reported missing April 14 in Musquash, police said at the time.
He was initially charged in April with manslaughter and indignity or interference with human remains in Teakles’ death. After he chose a jury trial, Crown prosecutor Elaina Campbell asked for “at least two weeks” for a preliminary inquiry, but the court granted one week in May.
A preliminary inquiry is a hearing with witnesses where a provincial court judge decides whether there’s enough evidence to take a case to trial in the Court of King’s Bench.
In court Monday, Judge Kelly Ann Winchester said lawyer Brian Munro was taking over Burns-Smith’s case, and Munro said that he would have scheduling issues with the May preliminary inquiry dates. While the Crown didn’t want the hearing moved, Campbell said she understood that the counsel of record would have to be there.
Munro said that if Burns-Smith argued for a stay over a trial delay down the line, the defence would have a “hard row to hoe” with respect to delay caused by the adjournment.
Campbell said that while she was aware that the directive had been one week only, she said she wanted to put it on the record that she would need three weeks for a full-scope preliminary inquiry.
Munro said that while it needed to be full-scope because it’s a murder case, as opposed to limited to specific issues, he thought that three weeks was “unrealistic” and that it could be done in three to four days.
The preliminary inquiry was set over a series of six days in a month span, including July 16 and 17, July 23 and 24 and Aug. 9 and 10.
Burns-Smith has also pleaded not guilty to two charges of uttering threats dated to April 5 and 17 in Saint John, which are set for trial June 5, 2026, according to court records.
The charges against Burns-Smith have not yet been tested in court.
