Defence awaits autopsy results in Halifax newborn death case

The lawyer for one of the people charged with concealing the body of a child and indignity to human remains appeared in Halifax provincial court Monday, and says he expects to have autopsy results “relatively soon.”

Sukhpreet Singh, 23, and his wife Ramandeep Kaur, 26, are also charged with resisting a peace officer and obstruction of justice in the case.

Their cases were back in court Monday and held over until July 24.

“We’re in the preliminary stages of this case, so the first real step in the process is for the Crown to gather the disclosure materials from the police and disclose that to the accused,” said Trevor McGuigan, a defence lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid, who is one of the lawyers representing Kaur.

The charges stem from an urgent search last month for a missing newborn baby, whose remains were eventually found in a wooded area in Goodwood, N.S.

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Halifax Regional Police first learned of the missing baby on May 15 when the newborn’s mother was taken to hospital by ambulance in life-threatening condition after appearing to have just given birth.

She remained unresponsive and died in hospital the following week. 

Singh has been described by police as a relative of the newborn’s mother. Both Singh and Kaur remain in custody.

The Crown has previously said there is the “potential for additional very serious charges,” but McGuigan says it’s still too early to say if either accused could face additional charges.

He says the timeline for receiving disclosure can take longer on cases like this.

“When it’s a serious charge and the police have gathered a lot of evidence, whether that be video or statements … I’m not entirely aware of the scope of the disclosure in this case, but when it is serious and there’s a lot of material, it can take longer to gather and disclose to the accused,” McGuigan said.

Singh is expected to be in court in person on July 24, while Kaur will appear by video conference.