Delays continue for former SNL comedian jailed 2 years awaiting trial
Former SCTV and Saturday Night Live comedian Tony Rosato must wait until June to find out if he will get a bail hearing this summer after spending two years in jail without trial.
On Friday, lawyers involved in Rosato’s case met in court in Kingston, Ont., but were unable to agree on moving up court proceedings to discuss his bail and the exceptional delay in his trial for charges of harassing his wife.
They will be discussing the issue again in June, said Rosato’s lawyer Daniel Brodsky.
If Rosato is granted bail, he will be released to a psychiatric hospital, Brodsky said.
Rosato, 53, has been in jail since May 2005.
He was charged with harassment after he complained to police that his wife Leah Rosato and their daughter had gone missing and had been replaced by imposters.
On Friday, the Superior Court of Justice offered to move Rosato’s hearing on bail and court delays from November to July, but the lawyer for Rosato’s wife said she was not available.
“Tony is shocked that he may have to wait until November to accommodate the complainant’s lawyer,” Brodsky said in an e-mail. “I’m appalled.”
Lawyer wants charges dropped
Brodsky is arguing that charges against Rosato should be dropped because of an unreasonable delay in his trial.
That delay has prompted Karl Pruner, the president of Rosato’s union, to speak to Ontario’s attorney general about the case.
“From what I can find out about the case, nobody’s done anything wrong. There’s no malice here,” said Pruner, head of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. “It’s just this guy has wedged himself into a crack and we need to get him out.”
A spokesperson for Ontario’s Attorney General’s Office told CBC that the Crown has taken steps to have Rosato’s case moved forward “judiciously and expeditiously” and to have Rosato held in a psychiatric facility instead of jail.
Rosato was born in Italy, grew up in Ottawa, and rose to fame after he joined Second City in Toronto. He was on SCTV and Saturday Night Live in the ’80s and went on to star on other TV shows and in movies through the ’90s.
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