Radiohead Stage Trial Moves Forward

An Ontario court judge has dismissed an attempt to quash charges in the Radiohead stage collapse trial, allowing the long-running case on the deadly incident to move forward.

Photo: AP Photo

Collapsed stage at the site for a Radiohead concert at Downsview Park in Toronto.

Justice Shaun Nakatsuru rejected arguments that charges against Live Nation and engineer Dominic Cugliari should be dropped because their rights to a fair trial were compromised by an unreasonable delay.

Charges were established in June 2013, and the trial isn’t scheduled to end until January, according to the Toronto Star. The judge said the slow pace is allowed because of the complexity of the evidence in the trial, with several expert witnesses, engineering reports and multiple defendants.

“The issue of how the stage collapsed, and who is responsible for that, is complex,” Nakatsuru said Oct. 26. In early October, lawyers for Cugliari and Live Nation applied to have their charges dropped, saying that the 18-month limit for delays in provincial court trials should apply to this case. The trial is scheduled to resume Dec. 5 at Toronto’s Old City Hall.

If convicted, the maximum fine against a corporation is $500,000 per charge, while an individual can be fined $25,000 per charge and face up to a year in prison, the Star reported.