TORONTO -- A man accused in a deadly van attack in north Toronto won't stand trial until next year at the earliest, his lawyer said Friday after the case was put over until November.
Alek Minassian, who is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 of attempted murder, was not in court for a brief hearing on his case and was represented by his lawyer Boris Bytensky.
Bytensky said lawyers are still in the process of combing through witness statements, photos and videos that have been turned over by investigators.
"It's certainly not a usual case," he told reporters outside court. "This is probably the largest amount of disclosure I've received on a case and maybe the largest amount of disclosure that's been provided in a case that my office has been involved in."
The case is set to return to court on Nov. 1, though that date could change if the Attorney General approves a request made by the Crown to move the case to a higher court without a preliminary inquiry, Bytensky said.
But Bytensky said it was still unlikely the case would proceed to trial any time soon.
"Everybody still needs to be able to get prepared," he said. "That really doesn't change whether we're going straight to Superior Court or whether we're staying with the Ontario Court of Justice for a longer period."
Bytensky declined to comment on how his client was doing, and said people's focus should remain on the victims of the April 23 incident.
