A shackled Luka Rocco Magnotta remained impassive as
he made his first court appearance since last June on a first-degree
murder charge in the gruesome slaying of a Montreal university
student.
   
Magnotta kept his eyes on the ground when not looking at the
Crown or the judge as lawyers set the stage Wednesday for a
preliminary hearing that will begin March 11.
   
The hearing, which will determine whether the 30-year-old Ontario
native is sent to trial, is scheduled to last at least two weeks and
possibly resume in June.
   
Magnotta is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying and
dismemberment of Chinese engineering student Jun Lin last May.
   
Most of the contents of Wednesday's 35-minute hearing cannot be
revealed because of a publication ban. It served mainly to deal with
issues like evidence, the number of witnesses to be heard and a
rough schedule of the hearing.
   
The proceedings took place in a high-security courtroom where
Magnotta sat throughout in a large prisoner's box. At the end, he
used an intercom phone to speak briefly to his lawyer before being
whisked away.
   
Magnotta faces other charges related to Lin's death: committing
an indignity to a body; publishing obscene material; criminally
harassing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of
Parliament; and mailing obscene and indecent material.
   
Quebec court Judge Lori-Renee Weitzman will preside over the
preliminary hearing. Any eventual trial would be held in Quebec
Superior Court.
   
Magnotta has previously pleaded not guilty and chosen trial by
judge and jury. He is represented by Luc Leclair, an Ontario-based
lawyer who has been granted leave by the Quebec bar to represent
Magnotta. He is also represented by Pierre Panaccio, a Montreal
defence attorney.
   
Neither man spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
   
Nearly two dozen reporters attended the hearing - a rarity for
what is generally just a procedural stage.
   
Jean-Pascal Boucher, a spokesman for the Crown's office, said his
office is ready to proceed with the preliminary hearing.
   
``We are set, we are ready to proceed in March for two weeks and
we set aside a few more days to ensure the preliminary inquiry will
be finished as soon as possible,'' Boucher said.
   
Magnotta became the subject of an international manhunt after
parts of Lin's body began turning up across the country.
   
He is accused of mailing body parts to different places including
the Ottawa offices of the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal
Party of Canada and two Vancouver schools.
   
Crown prosecutor Louis Bouthillier will be trying the case on his
own for now. His counterpart, Helene Di Salvo, was recently named a
Quebec Superior Court justice.
   
``Mr. Bouthillier is in charge of the file, he is a senior
prosecutor, he has a lot of experience so it makes no difference for
us,'' Boucher said.

(The Canadian Press)