LLOYDMINSTER – A man accused of a violent home invasion on Onion Lake Cree Nation was granted bail Thursday.
The contested bail hearing was held in Lloydminster, Sask., court for 24-year-old Riley Baptiste, who appeared by telephone from the correctional centre.
North Battleford Crown prosecutor Loren Klein was opposed to Baptiste’s release on secondary and tertiary grounds. Secondary grounds relate to whether detention is necessary for the protection or safety of the public. Tertiary grounds – which is generally reserved for more serious offences – deals with whether detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.
The details of what is said during show cause hearings can’t be published.
Trial delayed due to COVID
Baptiste had a trial scheduled Thursday on the charges from the home invasion but it didn’t proceed due to COVID-19. The trial was rescheduled to May 31 on charges of break and enter, pointing a firearm at another person, using a firearm in a careless manner, intentionally discharging a firearm in a reckless manner, possession of a firearm without a license, assault with a weapon, being in a vehicle knowing it contained a firearm, and possession of a firearm for a purpose dangerous to the public.
The charges stem from an incident on Jan. 31, 2021. Baptiste and Garth Swiftwolfe shot and kicked in a door on Onion Lake Cree Nation, according to the RCMP.
In April 2021, Swiftwolfe was sentenced to eight years in prison for that incident and a separate incident in North Battleford the following day.
The charges against Baptiste in this incident haven’t been proven in court.
Joint submission on other charges
Defence, Saskatoon lawyer Aleida Oberholzer, and the Crown entered a joint submission to the court on other charges Baptiste was facing. He was sentenced to 150 days time served on charges of resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer, impersonating another person, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and failing to comply with conditions including being at large, failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, failing to stay inside a residence 24-hours a day as ordered, not possessing any weapons, not be in the driver seat of a motor vehicle, and not possessing alcohol or drugs that are not prescribed.
The charges stem from Feb. 5, 2021, when Baptiste was on court ordered conditions following the home invasion incident. The court heard that Baptiste was unlawfully at large, had a folding knife he altered to be double edged, gave Onion Lake RCMP the wrong name and birth date, and was wanted on outstanding warrants.
Baptiste was held in custody until he was released Nov. 17, 2021, and then arrested again on Dec. 31, 2021, for breaching release conditions. When police arrested him he was wearing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, had two bullets, two meth pipes, two vodka bottles, drug paraphernalia and a sawed-off rifle, said the Crown.
Klein said Baptiste’s criminal record is “relatively limited,” but added that, “it is growing.”
Oberholzer told the court that Baptiste is from Red Pheasant First Nation but moved to North Battleford when he was 11. In his late teens he moved with his mother to Onion Lake Cree Nation, where he has resided since.
He has experienced inter-generational trauma with his grandmother and father attending residential school.
As a child, “he experienced racism, violence, and bullying,” said Oberholzer.
“This led him to cutting his braids and he regretted that decision.”
She said that his family has a strong Indigenous identity and attends pow wows. Baptiste also became immersed in the “cowboy lifestyle” and worked with livestock, said Oberholzer.
Judge Murray Pelletier accepted the Crown and defence’s joint submission.
