Warning: Some may find the details in this story disturbing
A Dangerous Offender Hearing has been postponed for a man convicted of attempted murder and charged with sexual assault, and choking to overcome resistance in two separate incidents.
A hearing for Cory Smockum, 38, was to be heard in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench on Feb. 1 but isn’t proceeding after Smockum changed lawyers. This means there is insufficient time for his new lawyer to be ready for a two-week Dangerous Offender Hearing.
In July 2020, Justice Grant Currie granted the Crown’s application to hold a Dangerous Offender Hearing for Smockum. He was found guilty in February 2020 of attempted murder after a five-day trial in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench. The charges are a result of an incident Oct. 14, 2018, near Hanley, Sask. The court heard that Smockum sexually and physically assaulted his former girlfriend in a garage and threated to kill “everyone he could that night.”
During the trial, the victim told the court she was choked unconscious three times and on the third time “everything went warm,” her vision went and she “made peace with dying that night.”
The victim had broken ribs, a brain bleed, injured knees, stitches on her lip, black eyes, ear damage, a cut on the side of her head and bruising. She spent six days in hospital.
Smockum was also charged with aggravated sexual assault and choking to overcome resistance. A mistrial was declared on those charges after there was a hung jury. In June 2020 the Saskatoon Prosecutions Office said they would retry Smockum on the sexual assault charges. The Crown, however, has since said they don’t plan to try Smockum again on the aggravated sexual assault and choking to overcome resistance charges.
During Smockum’s trial, the court heard that he had a 2016 conviction after being arrested by North Battleford RCMP in 2015 and charged with sexual assault, assault and choking to overcome resistance. The choking charge was dropped and the assault and sexual assault charges were changed to assault causing bodily harm and sexual assault causing bodily harm, respectively. Smockum was found guilty in 2016 of assault causing bodily harm. He was found not guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm.
A new date for Smockum’s Dangerous Offender Hearing will be set at the next criminal pre-trial meeting.
Sentencing of Smockum is postponed until the courts decide whether or not to designate him as a dangerous offender. If Smockum is found to be a dangerous offender the prison sentence can be an indefinite term. In addition, dangerous offenders are subject to lengthy supervision orders.
