Miller, 80, faces 21 charges of sexual exploitation involving 10 victims, some of whom were minors at the time.
A Quebec Superior Court judge has rejected Montreal billionaire Robert Miller’s request for a stay of proceedings in his criminal case on sexual exploitation charges.
His lawyers quickly turned to the Superior Court to attempt to have the charges stayed by arguing Miller, 80, is in too poor health to go through the criminal process.
Superior Court Justice François Dadour declined to hear that request on Thursday, stating the matter should be dealt with in the Court of Quebec instead.
“I am not persuaded that there is either urgency to Mr. Miller’s claim in terms of the interests of justice, or that this Court is ‘substantially better suited to deal with the matter,’” Dadour ruled.
Dadour also noted measures could be put in place to hasten the judicial process or make it so Miller doesn’t need to attend if it is in fact too difficult for him.
Miller’s defence team had argued the charges should be stayed because proceeding with the case would violate their client’s Charter rights given his state of health.
According to the defence, Miller suffers from the most advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease, is bedridden and requires constant medical care.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in the case on July 3.
“Mr. Miller’s condition is not to be minimized. However, at this point, the medical evidence describes the consequences of criminal proceedings rather (than) dealing with the merits of the allegations,” Dadour ruled.
“As such, I do not consider that, on the evidence, it was factually established that Mr. Miller’s constitutional rights would be infringed by being charged with criminal offences and/or by being about to be arraigned,” he continued.
In a separate class-action lawsuit against Miller, a judge has already ruled Miller can be questioned before the suit is authorized but only in writing, given his poor health.
Miller has denied the allegations weighing against him. In the criminal case, the events are alleged to have taken place between 1994 and 2016.