STRATFORD — The trial of a father accused of killing his one-month-old daughter won’t start until December.
Robert Rivet is expected to have a jury trial with jury selection starting Dec. 5. The trial is expected to wrap up Dec. 16.
“It’s the next available time when Superior Court is sitting and witnesses and defence council are available,” said Crown attorney Henry Van Drunen.
Following a preliminary inquiry, Justice Kathryn McKerlie ruled Rivet would stand trial on a charge of second-degree murder.
Skyla Rivet died Jan. 16, 2010. She was rushed to Stratford hospital and then transferred to Children’s Hospital in London with “critical injuries” the night of Jan. 15.
An autopsy determined trauma was the cause of death.
Van Drunen said because this is a smaller jurisdiction judges are pulled in from surrounding areas, so the times are booked in advance and Superior Court doesn’t sit every day. Because this is a fairly lengthy trial it was more difficult to find a time to accommodate it.
If the trial were only two days long it would have been scheduled sooner, Van Drunen said.
“It’s not out of the ordinary at all,” he said.
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