Lawyers argued Monday afternoon against and for a publication ban protecting the identity of the woman charged with abandoning her baby in the toilet of a Wal-Mart washroom.
Since the 21-year-old woman made her first court appearance on Sept. 13, a publication ban has been in place protecting her identity. Although there is no specific clause in the criminal code protecting the accused woman - there is a section protecting victims and witnesses - the ban was ordered.
Lawyers for the woman and the child say identifying the woman will identify the child.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band's child and family services, which has custody of the baby, is represented by Peter Abrametz Sr. in this case. He said the child must be protected and therefore argued the woman cannot be identified.
"The child is vulnerable," Abrametz said.
"It's in the long-term interest of the child to put this memory to rest."
If the woman's name is made public, the child might find out the circumstances of his birth through newspaper articles and such. These articles can be scrapbooked and kept around for years, to the age when the child can understand what happened to him. Abrametz said the child could go to school and be known as the Wal-Mart baby that was flushed down a toilet.
"Why do we want to hang that on the child?"
The lawyer for the accused, Ajay Krishan, made similar arguments. He said the protection of the child can only be done if the woman's name is kept secret. He said the courts should listen to child and family services because it has the baby's best interest at heart. Krishan said the media is not interested in the well-being of the child.
"Whether there is potential harm to the child or not, the court should not listen to the StarPhoenix and Daily Herald but to the caregivers of the victim.
"(The StarPhoenix and Daily Herald's) interest isn't in the child but to sell newspapers," said Krishan.
At that point Judge Stephen Carter interrupted and said he didn't think it was fair to say the media was fighting the publication ban just to sell newspapers.
"Freedom of the press is taken very seriously in this country," said Carter.
The freedom of the press was one of the arguments Sean Sinclair made on behalf of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
"Justice must not only be done but must be seen done. We have open courts for a reason," argued Sinclair. "The public is interested in this case and wants information so it can see justice being done."
Sinclair said one of the reasons a publication ban is put in place is to be effective in protecting the victim. However, since the baby lives in the small community of La Ronge, chances are everybody already knows who the child is and who the woman is.
"Will it protect the victim? It won't. The cat is out of the bag," he argued.
Releasing the name of the woman won't necessarily identify the child because the last name is quite common in the area, the child might go through a name change in the future depending on the outcome of his custody and people don't know if the baby's current last name is that of the father or the mother, argued Sinclair.
Krishan counter-argued that identifying his client serves no purpose but to "sear the name into the memory of the public." He said the media is still allowed to report on what has been happening with the woman's criminal charge.
Carter reserved his decision about the ban until Nov. 19.
The 21-year-old woman charged with child abandonment in relation to a baby boy found in a public washroom in Prince Albert has a new preliminary hearing date.
The woman pleaded not guilty to her charge and chose to have her case heard by a Court of Queen's Bench judge and jury. The hearing is held to see if there is enough evidence to go to trial.
The hearing was originally scheduled for the middle of February but will now be held March 5 and 6. The Crown anticipates calling 15 witnesses.
