Dangerous offender hearing begins for convicted sexual predator Lance Blanchard
'Dangerous offender' is a term reserved for Canada's most violent criminals and sexual predators
A dangerous offender hearing begins Monday for a man convicted in 2016 of the violent sexual assault of an Indigenous woman in an Edmonton apartment.
Lance Blanchard was found guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon and making a death threat in relation to the 2014 attack on the woman, who CBC refers to using the pseudonym Angela Cardinal.
The case sparked outrage, and two reviews were ordered by Alberta Justice when CBC News found Cardinal was incarcerated during her testimony at Blanchard's preliminary hearing.
Cardinal, 28, died months later in an unrelated shooting.
In August, Blanchard lost a bid for a mistrial.
The Crown applied for Blanchard to be declared a dangerous offender, a term reserved for Canada's most violent criminals and sexual predators.
The Crown must show that there is a high risk Blanchard will commit violent or sexual offences in the future. If declared a dangerous offender, Blanchard would be given an indeterminate sentence, and could spend the rest of his life in prison.