Defence counsel Kim Ross appeared in Calgary Court of King’s Bench on Friday and indicated he’s been asked to take over the file from currently assigned lawyer Jim Lutz.
Ross said he was contacted by Lutz’s office and asked to take the case because Lutz has a conflict of interest with a proposed witness.
“I literally was retained (Thursday) on this matter,” Ross told Justice Rosemary Nation.
“Mr. Frommelt and I have never met,” he said, as the accused appeared in court via closed-circuit TV.
Ross said he will also have to review the witness list to ensure he doesn’t have a conflict on the file as well.
He said he spoke to the assigned Crown earlier in the week before being retained.
“I did confirm that I’m not available for the trial dates that are currently set,” Ross said.
Last December, an agent for Frommelt’s then-lawyer, Jim Edgett, scheduled a three-week judge alone case to begin Oct. 21.
Frommelt, 39, is charged with second-degree murder in the April 7, 2022, death of his former girlfriend, Jamie Lynn Scheible, 23.
The mother of one was found in medical distress in the 300 block of Templeview Dr. N.E. when police responded to reports of gunshots around 7:15 p.m. that day.
At the time police said Frommelt and Scheible had recently been in a relationship and labeled it “a domestically related homicide.”
He was taken into custody a month after Scheible’s death at a southwest Calgary residence.
Crown prosecutor Carla MacPhail said there is some urgency to get the case resolved as it’s approaching the 30-month deadline established by the Supreme Court to have trials completed.
“Mr. Lutz is the third counsel that Mr. Frommelt has had on the file,” MacPhail told Nation.
“The matter is an allegation of murder and those dates are at the Jordan threshold,” she said, referring to the Supreme Court case on unreasonable delay.
Because Ross couldn’t guarantee he does not have a potential conflict, Nation asked that the case return to court in two weeks to determine next steps.
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