Long-stalled Kelowna murder trial delayed yet again (Kelowna)

After countless delays, it’s not clear when a high-profile Kelowna murder trial will get back up and running. Gabriella Sears has been in custody since her arrest back in June 2021, when the mutilated body of 49-year-old Darren Middleton was found on her bathroom floor in Kelowna's Rutland area. Facing a charge of second-degree murder, Sears began her trial in October 2023. But on what was meant to be the 18th day of trial, she abruptly fired her two lawyers, bringing the trial to a grinding halt. With multiple lawyers taking on, and then quitting the case, the original judge aging out of her role, and two separate court-ordered fitness assessments of Sears, the case has slowly dragged through the courts, with many appearances, but little progress. Delay after delay The trial was first scheduled to resume in the summer of 2024, before Sears’ lawyer at the time withdrew from the case, citing a “serious loss of confidence” between all three parties. An entirely new trial was then scheduled to begin earlier this month, more than a year later, but that has also been pushed back. While it was first set to begin Oct. 14, it was delayed by another week. But the trial hasn’t kicked off this week as planned. Instead, Justice Gropper held a case management conference with defence and crown Thursday, the contents of which are covered under a publication ban. This means Castanet is unable to report on the reason for the most recent delay. While the case is scheduled to return to court next week, it’s not clear when the actual trial might begin. Confession excluded Middleton's common-law spouse Brenda Adams testified during the first trial that Middleton never returned home after he went to pick up a load of turf from his employer, who lived nearby, on the evening of June 16, 2021. After spending the night calling friends and searching the area for him, Adams went to Sears house just after 1 a.m. and found Middleton's body on her bathroom floor. Adams testified she and Middleton had known Sears for several months prior to the death, and she sometimes did odd jobs for the couple. Adams said they had known Sears as “Dereck,” but days before Middleton’s death, Sears told them she now identified as a woman and went by Gabby or Gabriella. After her arrest, Sears confessed to police that she had killed Middleton, but her lawyers Jordan Watt and Tom Forss successfully argued to have those confessions excluded from evidence, due to the RCMP's conduct infringing on her Charter rights. Despite this, Sears still fired her lawyers a few months later, accusing them of “gaslighting” her and colluding with the Crown. Criminally responsible? While two court-ordered assessments over the past two years found Sears was fit to stand trial, several of Sears past lawyers have suggested arguing a defence that Sears should be found not criminally responsible of murder due to a mental order. Back in June 2024, Sears’ lawyer at the time Frances Mahon told the court she planned on having a forensic psychiatrist testify at trial, to provide evidence about whether Sears was mentally well enough at the time of Middleton’s death to form the intent to murder. This never occurred though, as Mahon withdrew from the case a couple weeks later. At the time, Crown prosecutor Grabavac told the court that Sears’ previous lawyer Jordan Watt had raised a not-criminally-responsible defence with him shortly before Sears fired Watt.