The health of the accused has delayed the trial of Ibrahim Ali, who’s on trial for first-degree murder in the death of a girl whose body was found in Central Park on July 19, 2017.
The 33-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
The victim cannot be identified because of a publication ban.
So far this week, a B.C. Supreme Court judge and jury have been hearing testimony from a cellular phone expert.
During the arrest, Burnaby RCMP Const. Jason Cutler told the court he seized Ali’s cellphone.
Two other police witnesses who testified Wednesday said police placed the black LG smartphone inside a foil Mylar bag designed to prevent it from being accessed remotely and then locked it in a police locker.
One of the witnesses, Cpl. Andrew Bemister, said he was tasked with extracting a phone number from the SIM card.
In her opening statement in April, Crown prosecutor Isobel Keeley said the jury would hear from witnesses who will testify about cellphone records that place Ali in Burnaby on July 18, 2017, the day the girl was reported missing.
Keeley said witnesses will also testify that the girl’s cellphone records dating back to the end of June 2017 showed no contact between her phone and Ali’s phone.
The Crown theory is that Ali and the girl were strangers to each other and that Ali attacked her inside Central Park, dragged her into the forest and killed her while sexually assaulting her.
Discussions held in court July 14 about Ali’s health cannot be published as those talks between Crown, defence and Justice Lance Bernard were held outside the presence of the jury.
Bernard called the jury back in only to tell them they did not need to return for 10 days.
“I’m sure this comes as very little surprise to you,” he told jurors. “We’re not able to proceed.”
“I’m doing everything I can to try and avoid these delays,” Bernard said.
This is not the first time the case has halted due to Ali's health. It has also happened May 13 and April 6.
The case resumes July 24.
With files from Cornelia Naylor
