The accused at a Burnaby murder trial spent most of his time in court Tuesday morning slumped over wearing earplugs without using headphones provided to help him hear his court interpreter.
Ibrahim Ali, 33, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby park on July 19, 2017.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The victim cannot be identified because of a publication ban.
Maria Li, an analyst with the RCMP’s National Forensic Laboratory, was in the witness stand in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Tuesday morning to testify about her role extracting DNA from the clipping of a swab suspected of containing sperm.
Less than five minutes into her testimony, however, defence lawyer Kevin McCullough told Justice Lance Bernard Ali’s Kurdish and Arabic interpreter said he was “having difficulties communicating” with the accused.
Bernard excused the jury in order to address the matter, but information presented in court when the jury is absent cannot be published during the trial.
The jury returned after about 10 minutes and the trial continued with Ali slumped over in his chair, wearing earplugs and not using headphones provided to help him hear his interpreter.
Ali's health has emerged as an issue multiple times during trial, delaying the proceedings on April 6, May 18 and July 14.
The court interpreter continued translating throughout Li's testimony until the lunch break at 12:30 p.m.
The trial, including Li's cross-examination, is expected to continue at 2 p.m.
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