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Sentencing of Smockum delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic

The sentencing of a man found guilty last month in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cory Smockum, 38, was found guilty on Feb.
Smockum trial
This RCMP evidence photo of blood inside the garage where the assault occurred was introduced during the trail in Saskatoon Court of Queen's Bench in February.

The sentencing of a man found guilty last month in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cory Smockum, 38, was found guilty on Feb. 8 of attempted murder after a five-day trial and was scheduled to be sentenced March 23 in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.

The jury had reached a unanimous verdict on the attempted-murder charge but couldn’t reach a verdict on two other charges of aggravated assault and choking to overcome resistance. Justice G.M. Currie declared a mistrial on those two charges.

Smockum was charged by Saskatoon RCMP after an incident on Oct. 14, 2018, near Hanley. Police responded to a call of a man threatening a woman. They found the victim and took her to a hospital where she was treated for broken ribs, a brain bleed, damage to her knees and stitches to her lip. She had a cut on her head, black eyes, bruising and ear damage.

During the trial, the court heard that Smockum sexually and physically assaulted the victim. He also had threatened to kill others and had “serious intentions of killing everyone he could that night,” the victim told the court.

The assault occurred in a garage. Smockum then took the victim on a quad and went through a field where he flipped the ATV and was injured. The victim fled towards a grain elevator to find help and hide. The police found her there in the early morning hours of Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018.

Smockum’s 2016 conviction was introduced to the court during the trial. The court heard that in 2015 Smockum was arrested by North Battleford RCMP 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. In 2016 Smockum was found guilty of assault causing bodily hard. He was found not guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm.

A new date for sentencing Smokum on the 2020 conviction hasn’t been set.