(ASHLEY LEGASSIC / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - The jury trial for a man charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of a Shuswap man has been adjourned.

Defence lawyer Grant Gray filed an application today, Feb. 14, in Kamloops Supreme Court to withdraw from the case due to "ethical reasons" but didn't go into detail about what those reasons were. He said he could no longer represent Jeremy Davis.

The trial was expected to begin this afternoon.

In Canadian law, a lawyer wishing to withdraw from a case due to ethical reasons does not have to disclose what those reasons are. Supreme Court judge Gregory Bowden granted the application.

Davis was charged in connection to a drive-by shooting in Blind Bay more than five years ago. Nicholas Larsen, 25, was gunned down while he was a passenger in a car driving east on Blind Bay Road, about 20 kilometres from Salmon Arm on June 1, 2011.

RCMP had previously said Larsen was shot several times and ended up dying at a nearby friend's house. Davis was arrested June 12, 2014 in Williams Lake and his co-accused, Jordan Barnes, was arrested in Kelowna the day after. Police said one of the accused was known to the victim.

Barnes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October of last year. The details of the shooting cannot be published since Davis is still scheduled to be tried before a jury. Publishing the details before a jury trial begins runs the risk of swaying potential jurors.

Bowden dismissed the jurors assigned to the trial this afternoon, Feb. 14, saying a new date will need to be set for the trial, but added there will be a different jury.

Now that Davis is not represented by a lawyer, he will need time to obtain counsel. Lawyers will meet again on Feb. 27 for a pre-trial conference and to fix a date for trial.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or call 250-319-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2017