It appears the family and friends of two women killed in an alleged hit-and-run crash nearly two years ago in Coquitlam will have to wait even longer to see the driver accused stand trial.
The trial for Cory Sater was set to begin in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court this month, but the date has been quashed.
According to B.C. Crown counsel spokesman Neil MacKenzie, the accused has elected to have his case heard in Supreme Court instead.
Sater is facing charges related to the February 2011 crash that killed Charlene Reaveley and Lorraine Cruz.
He is now scheduled to appear in New Westminster Supreme Court on Jan. 24 to fix a new trial date.
The request for a change in court was made in December.
Sater is facing 10 charges related to the crash, including two counts each of dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death and causing an accident resulting in death.
MacKenzie explained that an accused facing an indictable offense has the right to elect to have a trial in provincial or Supreme Court.
It could now be several months before Sater's trial,
depending on a number of factors including availability of counsel, witnesses and court time.
Cruz had been driving with her 28-year-old boyfriend in a Nissan Pathfinder just before 12: 30 a.m. on Feb. 19 when the vehicle crashed at Lougheed Highway and Pitt River Road.
The two got out of the car, and 30-year-old Reaveley and her husband Dan stopped to help. As the four stood outside the Nissan at the PoCo intersection, a 1995 white Jeep Cherokee allegedly ran down both women. They were killed instantly.
Cruz's boyfriend was also hit and was taken to Royal Columbian Hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Police found the suspect vehicle a few kilometres away.
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