Day-long Morley standoff charges dropped, lawyers allege RCMP had 'tunnel vision'

Charges have been stayed against two men accused of a day-long armed standoff in Morley.

The standoff saw two schools evacuated and gunshots fired from within a home.

Defence lawyers for one of the accused now blame the RCMP for having "tunnel vision" in the investigation.

Credibility, witness cooperation

Sedrick Marian Powderface, 33, and Sidney Dion Wesley-Beaver, 24, were charged with a total of 23 offences in January 2018. 

The two were supposed to go on trial this week but prosecutor Mac Vomberg issued a stay. He cited issues with what he described as the credibility and lack of cooperation of a key witness.

On January 25, 2018, RCMP responded to the incident, which escalated into an armed and barricaded situation in the First Nations community.

'Fraught with errors,' lawyer says

There also were problems with the investigation, said lawyers Shamsher Kothari and Curtis Mennie, who represented Powderface.

"After receiving disclosure, we realized the RCMP investigation was fraught with errors and really came down to a tunnel vision-style investigation," Kothari said Tuesday.

Powderface was denied bail, and has been living at the Calgary Remand Centre since his arrest.

"For a year, he had to wait in custody only to have his charge stayed," Mennie said.

Wesley-Beaver was represented by defence lawyer Allan Fay.