Woman charged with manslaughter in nightclub death granted bail

Paige Theriault-Fisher looked attentive and serious, remaining focused on the judge at her bail hearing on Thursday morning at Saskatoon Provincial Court.

The 22-year-old woman appeared by video from the Pine Grove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert.

Theriault-Fisher is charged with manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Hodan Hashi, who died at a Saskatoon bar and nightclub in the early morning hours Saturday.

Judge B.M. Klause released Theriault-Fisher on consent of the Crown and defence on Thursday morning, requiring the woman to pay a $5,000 cash bail and abide by numerous conditions as her case proceeds through the court system. Her next court appearance is set for Dec. 15.

The conditions include that Theriault-Fisher report to her probation officer for the first time by noon on Friday by phone, attend court when scheduled, live at a residence determined by her probation officer, abide by a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew daily, and abstain from possessing or consuming any alcohol or drugs.

She is also not to have any weapons and no contact with immediate family of the victim or potential witnesses, in person or through referencing them on social media.

While Theriault-Fisher cannot consume alcohol herself, the conditions do allow her to work in a place where alcohol is present if necessary for her employment.

“These are pretty normal, standard conditions,” said Sharon Fox, a Regina defence lawyer who is representing Theriault-Fisher.

Fox added that as a defence attorney, she would usually oppose an especially stringent condition like a curfew. However, she said Theriault-Fisher had no objection to the condition under the circumstances.

As of the time she spoke with media around noon on Thursday, Fox said the bail amount had already been paid for Theriault-Fisher’s release.

Fox called the situation at the nightclub an “unexpected event” that has traumatized her client.

“Paige certainly had no intention of this ever happening so her heart and sympathies go out to the family of the deceased,” Fox said. “This is an event that’s going to affect two families going forward for the rest of their lives.”

She added her client is confident in the criminal justice system seeing the matter through to completion.

Fox couldn’t comment on the altercation or how Hashi and her client were known to each other.

Senior Crown prosecutor Frank Impey agreed with Fox about the outcome of Thursday’s bail hearing. Both felt it was evidence of the criminal justice system working well, refraining from unnecessary detention and honouring the presumption of innocence each accused person maintains until a decision is made by the court.

Impey noted the Canadian Criminal Code — and clarifications by the Supreme Court — is very clear about when someone charged with an offence can be detained.

The Crown examined all the factors relating to the accused and the offence as well as the evidence, Impey explained, and said in this case, the assessment was clear that a release was appropriate.

Both Fox and Impey also commented on the excellent work done by Saskatoon police so far in the investigation into the incident.

“I can say without the shadow of a doubt that police made the correct decision in this particular case,” Impey said.

He noted that Theriault-Fisher had been initially detained, arrested and warned by officers that she could be facing murder charges. Those were downgraded after further investigation by police to her current charge of manslaughter.

Impey shared that police have collected a significant amount of evidence in the case, all of which will be considered throughout the court process. He also noted that some evidence — video footage of the event at the nightclub — has been circulated on social media.

“They may see a grainy video. They may see many videos and jump to conclusions,” Impey noted.

“We’re confident as this matter proceeds that the facts will demonstrate that this was an act of self-defence resulting in an unfortunate tragedy,” Fox said.