Brandon Harder
Regina Leader-Post
The judge was there. The prosecutor was there. But the woman who was meant to be representing herself at trial was not.
Regina provincial court Judge Kevin Lang did what he could Tuesday, asking the clerk to page the woman accused of knowingly using a forged document.
“Patricia Baziniak to courtroom six, Patricia Baziniak to courtroom six,” said the clerk over the intercom.
But Baziniak did not appear.
At her last appearance, her application for court-appointed counsel was denied, prosecutor Lovedeep Waraich told Lang.
“The Crown witnesses are all present, your honour. I would seek an unendorsed warrant,” the prosecutor told the judge, who complied.
With that, there was nothing more to be done, so court closed.
The issuance of the warrant means police have the ability to arrest Baziniak, who will need to be brought before a judge again before her court matters can proceed.
When that will occur is not clear.
The charge she currently faces states that on or about Feb. 11, 2025, she did “knowingly use a forged document” as if it were “genuine.” The wording of the charge, as written on the court document, doesn’t make clear what the document was or how it was used.
It is not the first time Baziniak has had a run-in with the justice system.
Baziniak was 52 years old in February of 2024 when she received an 18-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to six charges, including theft and fraud.
Her suspended sentence meant while she received criminal record entries for her convictions, she was not forced to serve jail time, but was given a list of conditions to follow for the duration of her sentence.
The offences leading to the sentence included stealing from seniors for whom she worked as a cleaner, and stealing from a care aid who worked with her disabled son.
Facts read into the court record indicated the offences occurred in 2022 and 2023.
bharder@postmedia.com
