One of two suspects in an apparent love triangle turned deadly may no longer be fit to stand trial, her lawyer told court Friday.
Defence counsel Adriano Iovinelli asked Justice Rosemary Nation to order a 30-day assessment be conducted on murder suspect Jordan Smith.
Iovinelli told the Court of King’s Bench judge he has concerns his client’s mental health may be an issue, despite two previous court-ordered assessments finding Smith fit to stand trial.
“There has been previous assessments done,” Iovinelli said.
“There’s been a deterioration, in my opinion at least, in relation to the mental health of Ms. Smith and I make a fitness application.
Crown prosecutor Hyatt Mograbee said Smith and her co-accused, Domenic Hood, are scheduled to face a three-week jury trial beginning Dec. 2.
“There were two previous assessments ordered, one in May and one in December of 2023,” Mograbee said.
“Both of those assessments found Ms. Smith fit. My understanding, on the basis of my friend’s representations, there are concerns at this point that fitness is an issue and I don’t take issue with the request.”
Nation granted the testing by doctors at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre and ordered the case back to court on Aug. 16.
Iovinelli said that while that date is necessary to have the matter return to court within 30 days he expects the psychiatric remand will have to be extended at that time.
Smith, 30, faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Feb. 22, 2022, death of Marshall Rath, her former boyfriend.
Both Hood and Smith had earlier expressed an interest in resolving their cases without a trial, with Hood even entering a guilty plea to murder before new counsel, Rebecca Snukal, came on the file and after a review of the case asked the plea be vacated.
Smith was to be sentenced on a reduced charge of manslaughter, but after Justice Earl Wilson heard the grisly details of Rath’s killing he pointed out maintaining her guilty plea would mean she would not have a trial where an acquittal was possible.
“I would like to have a trial,” Smith said.
Before the change of heart Wilson heard details of Rath’s killing in which former Crown prosecutor Shane Parker said the death was the culmination of a love triangle.
Rath suffered blunt force trauma to his head and was stabbed six times in a downtown Calgary apartment.
In a video recorded the day before Rath’s death, Smith is seen assaulting a seemingly compliant victim.
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