Ashiqur Rahman is still waiting to find out when exactly he’ll have his day in court.
At his arraignment at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax Thursday morning, Judge Simon MacDonald told Rahman that he faces charges of aggravated assault and manslaughter, and that his trial date would be confirmed on Aug. 5.
However, both Crown and defence lawyers said at the arraignment they estimated the trial would run for 10 days, and the clerks suggested a free time that would begin Feb. 14.
The case will not be tried by a jury, but by a judge alone.
Rahman, 24, has been in prison since he was arrested on July 24 and charged with aggravated assault after police responded to a call that his seven-week-old daughter, Aurora Breakthrough, was seriously injured.
Aurora died three days later at the IWK Health Centre.
Rahman’s common-law partner, 23-year-old Jane Elizabeth Gomes, was also facing charges of manslaughter stemming from Aurora’s death, but pleaded guilty in April to the less-serious charge of failing to provide the necessities of life. She received six months probation.
Rahman and Gomes are both from Bangladesh and have been staying in Canada on student visas.
They had studied computer science at Wolfville’s Acadia University, but were living in a room above the Good Food Emporium restaurant on Halifax’s Gottingen Street when they called 911 to report their baby was in distress.
