Man pleads guilty to assault in fatal incident at Fredericton bar district
CBC
A Nova Scotia man originally charged with manslaughter after a man suffered fatal injuries in an assault last year in Fredericton has pleaded guilty to summary assault.
Tyler Totten of Truro was one of four people charged in the death of 41-year-old André Bourgeois, of Grand-Digue.
Bourgeois died Sept. 27, 2024, a few days after what police described as a "serious assault" in the downtown bar district.
Totten was 18 at the time of the assault and the only adult accused in Bourgeois’s death. The three others are being tried separately, with their identities protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
On Monday, Totten was in court for what was scheduled to be arguments following a preliminary hearing held in late August.
But instead, Crown prosecutor Patrick Wilbur told the court a new charge of summary assault was being laid. Summary assault carries a maximum of less than two years in jail, compared to manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Totten, represented by defence lawyer Brian Munro, then re-elected to be tried in provincial court, and Totten pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of summary assault.
The Crown then withdrew the previous charge of manslaughter.
Justice Lyne Raymond set the matter over until Dec. 2 at 9:30 for a sentencing hearing, when the facts of the case are expected to be presented.
Munro told the court that the defence and Crown will be issuing a joint recommendation at that time.
The other three accused in Bourgeois’s death — two of whom were 17 years old at the time, while the other was 16 — have chosen to be tried by judge and jury. They are not in custody.
Twenty days have been set aside for that trial, which is set to begin on Sept. 28, 2026.
Last year, the Crown told the court it would seek adult sentences for all three youths if they were to be convicted. But the Crown has since withdrawn that application.
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