A known Fort St. John fentanyl dealer has been given one more week to find a new lawyer for a retrial of his latest drug trafficking charges.
Dana Andrew Nazarek appeared in BC Supreme Court March 9, one month after he abruptly fired his previous lawyer in the middle of a jury trial.
“I have left multiple messages with legal aid, but I haven’t talked to anyone in person,” Nazarek told the court.
Nazarek has pleaded not guilty to 16 charges after police seized 800 fentanyl tablets and other narcotics along with loaded guns and cash from his home in February 2018.
He caused a mistrial in B.C. Supreme Court last month when he fired his defence lawyer Marianna Jasper two weeks into testimony, telling the court she was not following his instructions.
The Crown had requested an adjournment, but Justice Andrew P. Mayer ruled a mistrial would keep the case free of jury discussion outside of court. Jasper said few lawyers would be willing to take Nazarek's case.
On Monday, Justice George K. Macintosh gave Nazarek another week to find a lawyer. The intent is to begin ordering a new trial, with or without legal counsel. Macintosh suggested the Crown could help Nazarek find legal counsel to ensure the trial goes ahead.
It's yet to be determined whether the new trial will involve a jury or be conducted before a judge alone.
Nazarek has a history of trafficking fentanyl in Fort St. John.
He was convicted and sentenced to 40 months in prison in 2018 after police raided his home and seized more than 2,000 fentanyl pills disguised as Oxycontin in December 2013.
He remains in jail in Abbotsford.
Tom Summer, Local Journalism Initiative, Alaska Highway News