Aggravated assault is an indictable offence. A person charged with an indictable offence may elect how they will be tried:
- trial by a provincial court judge;
- trial by a superior court judge with a judge and jury, with a preliminary inquiry;
- trial by a superior court judge with a judge alone, with a preliminary inquiry;
- trial by a superior court judge with a judge and jury, without a preliminary inquiry; or,
- trial by a superior court judge with a judge alone, without a preliminary inquiry.
Ferland clearly elected to by tried by a provincial court justice. However, with the personal consent of the Attorney General, the Crown has the authority to prefer a direct indictment, which essentially puts the charge before a Superior Court Justice regardless of whether the accused elected to be tried before a provincial court justice or whether the accused elected to have a preliminary inquiry and the preliminary inquiry was not held.
It is usually only used when the accused has elected to have a preliminary inquiry and the Crown is concerned that this will cause enough delay to infringe the accused's s. 11(b) right to be tried in a reasonable time (and therefore enable the accused to apply for a judicial stay the charge.) In this case, there is clearly no such concern so it seems unusual.
In any event, it doesn't make any sense to me that the Herald is reporting that the charges were stayed. I suspect that it is a mistake on their part.