A sentencing hearing for a Yellowknife man, convicted of assaulting a police officer with a vehicle, has been postponed after the judge presiding over the case became ill.
A sentencing hearing for Garry Taylor, 39, was to take place in Territorial Court in Yellowknife last week but had to be delayed until late November because Judge Donovan Molloy was reportedly in hospital.
Taylor was found guilty in September after a trial this year of driving at an undercover officer last January near the Crestview Apartment building on 52 Ave., near 50 St.
At the trial, Judge Molloy described what happened next as a scene straight out of a movie.
Court heard that when the vehicle appeared to speed up, the officer pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the car.
Taylor was at the wheel, while a woman was sitting in the front passenger seat.
The officer then jumped on the hood of the vehicle and cracked the windshield with his gun.
Taylor swerved trying to throw the officer off but the Mountie dropped his gun and held on to the windshield wipers before eventually falling off.
He was not seriously injured and Taylor drove away from the scene.
Taylor has also been convicted of dangerous driving in connection with the incident.
Days later, Taylor was arrested when a vehicle rammed into RCMP vehicles after it had been boxed-in near School Draw Avenue.
He has been in custody ever since, facing a new set of charges.
It is expected all matters against him will be dealt with on Nov. 26 when the sentencing hearing is to resume.
Several lawyers, who asked not to be named, told CKLB that they understood Molloy had suffered a possible heart attack earlier this month at the Inuvik Airport and was receiving treatment in an Edmonton hospital.
He was reportedly in Inuvik presiding over cases.
CKLB asked the Dept. of Justice, which oversees the territory’s courts, if they could confirm the nature of Molloy’s illness and who exactly would be taking over his cases until he returned.
A response came from Ngan Trinh, a justice department spokesperson.
“Judge Molloy is currently on leave and all scheduled Territorial Court matters will be covered,” she stated in an email.
Molloy is the newest judge in the Northwest Territories having been appointed in February.
He came to the NWT from Newfoundland and Labrador where he was the privacy commissioner.
CKLB wishes him a speedy recovery.
