The B.C. man accused of murdering a father at a downtown Vancouver Starbucks is pleading not guilty and going to a preliminary inquiry in spring of 2024.
Inderdeep Singh Gosal, 32, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Paul Stanley Schmidt, 37.
Gosal appeared before Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Laura Bakan June 9 by video.
Defence lawyer Jas Mangat told Bakan both a pretrial conference and preliminary inquiry need to be scheduled in Gosal’s case.
Such inquiries are held to determine if enough evidence exists to proceed to trial. Those hearings are covered by a publication ban to prevent tainting of a jury should an accused elect trial by judge and jury in B.C. Supreme Court.
Trials are held when a person pleads not guilty to a charge. People are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A pretrial conference has been scheduled for March 24, 2024. The preliminary inquiry is scheduled for late April and early May 2024.
Gosal was denied bail March 27 and remains in custody at North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam.
Schmidt’s death was witnessed by dozens of people. A video of it went viral online.
Around 5:40 p.m. on March 26, two men were involved in an altercation outside the Starbucks at West Pender and Granville streets when one of the men was stabbed, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
A bystander immediately flagged a police officer, who was able to arrest a suspect at the scene.
More officers soon arrived and provided first aid to the victim, but he later died in hospital.
Investigators had been trying to determine a motive for the stabbing, having previously said they did not believe the victim and suspect knew each other.
The death was the city's sixth homicide of 2023.
