Andrew Blaine Rafuse appeared in custody at the side of the courtroom, wearing a brown hoodie with a buzzed haircut, on Oct. 6.
Rafuse’s lawyer Chris Manning said he would be withdrawing an application for bail.
“Your honour will recall that there was a bail hearing that had begun but was not completed,” Manning said to Judge Alan Tufts. “I wish to advise that the defence will be discontinuing the application for bail at this time.”
During a previous court appearance, Rafuse was charged for failing to comply with a condition to observe daily curfew and remain in his residence from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
It’s also alleged that he failed to comply with a condition to refrain from the possession, use or consumption of any alcoholic beverages or non-medically prescribed drugs as defined by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Manning said Rafuse consented to being remanded into custody until his scheduled sentencing on Oct. 27.
Outside the courtroom, Dashonn State’s stepmother Nicole States said she was pleased that Rafuse would remain in custody.
Rafuse pleaded guilty in August to dangerous driving causing death and having control of a vehicle that was involved in an accident, with intent to escape civil or criminal liability, failing to stop his vehicle, give his name and address and offer assistance to an injured party. He committed the offences in Mount Denson on June 22.
These matters were adjourned to Oct. 27 to allow time for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and for sentencing and for disposition on two remaining charges.
These include criminal negligence causing death by operating a motor vehicle at an excessive rate of speed and swerving on Bog Road, causing the death of a man; and operating a motor vehicle while his ability to operate was impaired by a combination of alcohol and drug.
On June 22 at 1:03 a.m., Hantsport firefighters were alerted to a single-vehicle rollover with entrapment. The crash occurred on a one-lane bridge on Bog Road in Mount Denson. On arrival, firefighters saw a four-door passenger sedan on its side blocking the bridge.
All four occupants were either ejected or self-extricated from the vehicle. A 22-year-old man who was a passenger in the vehicle, Dashonn States, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two female passengers, a 16-year-old and a 20-year-old, were transported to Valley Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the vehicle, a 25-year-old Lower Vaughan man, was reported by the RCMP to have fled the scene prior to police arrival. He was later arrested without incident.
The case was in the spotlight in July when demonstrators gathered outside the Hants County Courthouse, saying that the accused was getting preferential treatment from the court because he is white and the victim, States, is black.
- With files from Carole Morris-Underhill and Kirk Starratt
