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March 08, 2017 - 5:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - Charges against a Kamloops Mountie stemming from an alleged incident at a local McDonald's restaurant have now been stayed by the Crown.
Defence lawyer Brad Smith says the Crown wrote a letter to the Kamloops court registry last week indicating a stay of proceedings.
Smith says he can't disclose why the charges against Const. Michael Muller were stayed, but says throughout the proceedings, Crown has to be satisfied there is a substantial likelihood of conviction and that it is in the public interest to proceed.
"Crown counsel have an ongoing duty to determine whether a case continues to meet the charge approval standard," Smith says. "Sometimes it is appropriate for a prosecution to be terminated after it has been commenced. This was one of those cases."
Muller faced one count each of causing a disturbance and assault. Court documents stated Muller allegedly caused a disturbance at the Sahali McDonald's on April 18, 2016 by "screaming, shouting, swearing or using insulting or obscene language." The charges were laid on June 16, 2016.
Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller said in December 2016 that Muller was on administrative leave after the incident.
Smith says Muller was off active-duty at the time due to an injury. He doesn't know about Muller's future plans or if he intends to return to the RCMP.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017