A Halifax man awaiting trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the November 2016 shooting death of Tyler Keizer was released on a new bail order Friday after allegedly breaching his conditions.
Adam Joseph Drake, 29, failed to present himself at the door of his Spryfield home when Halifax Regional Police conducted a compliance check there on the night of Jan. 8.
Drake was arrested Jan. 11 and charged with three counts of breaching bail.
On Friday, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal Justice Carole Beaton revoked Drake’s March 18, 2020, bail order and replaced it with a new one with the same financial obligations - $95,000 - but modified conditions agreed upon by the defence and the Crown.
The bail order is secured by a $30,000 cash deposit by Drake and $65,000 in pledges by his four sureties.
Drake will continue to be subject to house arrest and to electronic monitoring in the form of an ankle bracelet. He can only leave the property for medical emergencies or appointments, legal commitments, and for four hours every Saturday to attend to personal needs in the company of his aunt, who is one of his sureties.
Police will have log-in credentials enabling them to view Drake’s current and historical GPS locations at any time and will also have remote access to two security systems at his home. The security cameras are to be positioned by police and cannot be moved without the permission of the Crown.
Drake must inform police of any malfunctions with the security systems and has to put a doorbell ringer in his bedroom that will notify him of any police compliance checks. He also has to install a landline and keep it in working order, ensure his cellphone is always charged with its notifications enabled, and cannot turn off any motion detectors in his security systems.
He will have five minutes to present himself at his door when police check on him.
The bail order also prohibits Drake from having any weapons, possessing or consuming alcohol or drugs, owning a passport, and having contact with 41 potential Crown witnesses and anyone with a criminal record, except for his father and one of his sureties.
Drake was released from custody later Friday after appearing in Halifax provincial court on the breach charges. Those matters will be back in provincial court in February.
Keizer, 22, died at hospital after he was shot in a sport utility vehicle in a parking lot at the corner of Falkland and Gottingen streets in Halifax on the evening of Nov. 21, 2016. A suspect was seen running from the scene.
Drake was arrested in March 2019 and denied bail by a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge in June 2019. He appealed that ruling, and an Appeal Court panel granted him bail last March.
Drake’s jury trial in Supreme Court is set for 25 days beginning next Nov. 2. The trial had been scheduled to start this March, but Associate Chief Justice Patrick Duncan decided that slot should be used for Markel Jason Downey’s trial instead.
Downey is also charged with first-degree murder, but he’s in custody. Downey’s trial had been set for the spring of 2019 but was adjourned twice at his request and a third time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
