Richard Harvey case to be waived to Newfoundland

The former Pembina Hills school division superintendent accused of defrauding the division in 2010 will have his case waived to Newfoundland.

Richard Harvey’s trial dates in St. Albert, first set for Oct. 14-17 before being postponed to Nov. 17-20, were cancelled. On Nov. 17 in St. Albert, the matter was briefly discussed in docket court to check on the status of the waiver.

Crown prosecutor John Donahoe told the court the waiver had not yet been completed.

Lawyer Zane Pocha, acting as an agent for Harvey’s lawyer Peter Royal, asked for a three-month adjournment — the matter was set down for Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. in Barrhead Provincial Court.

A spokesperson for Alberta Justice, Michelle Davio, said in an e-mail Thursday that an application had been made to have the matter waived to Newfoundland for resolution, which typically means the accused is expected to enter a guilty plea to one or more charges.

“It is expected this matter will be dealt with by summary disposition in Newfoundland,” she wrote.

As a result of the intended plea, no witnesses in the case will be expected to travel to Newfoundland.

Davio said applications of this nature are considered on a case-by-case basis, and in this case the Crown prosecutor did not oppose the application.

She did not respond by press time to a request for further information about why the Crown would consent to have the matter waived to another jurisdiction.

In the Canadian legal system, cases are usually heard in the jurisdiction where the alleged crime was committed.

Harvey, 62, was formally charged with fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust on Oct. 16, 2012, following a two-year investigation by Barrhead RCMP.

He is alleged to have filed excessive expense claims during his four years as superintendent from Aug. 1, 2006 until leaving the division without explanation on Oct. 23, 2010.

To date, school division officials have only ever offered explanation by way of a single-line media release that stated Harvey was no longer an employee of the division.

Harvey’s first court appearance was on Jan. 8, 2013, at which time he requested disclosure from the Crown through his lawyer, and asked for six weeks to review the disclosure package.

Since that first scheduled appearance, neither Harvey, who now resides in Newfoundland, nor his lawyer, Peter J. Royal, have appeared in person. Instead, whichever lawyer present as duty counsel has made any requests on Harvey and Royal’s behalf.

Harvey was scheduled to enter a plea on July 23, but again asked for more time to review the disclosure package.

After several more delays, Harvey finally entered a not-guilty plea on Nov. 26, 2013 through then-duty counsel Traci Overacker.

With files from Kevin Berger and Amy Crofts