Hackl's Up: Man who shot at police, his house burned to the ground during 10-hour standoff, faces 4-week jury trial

Daniel Hackl in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack Thursday where lawyers discuss case pushing up against Charter 11(b) delays

A man who shot at police during a 10-hour standoff that ended in his house burning to the ground is facing a four-week jury trial that may not start, let alone end, before 2026.

That could be a problem for prosecutors of Daniel Hackl who is charged with attempted murder with a firearm and discharging a firearm with intent to wound/disfigure for the incident on the Victoria Day long weekend two years ago on Knight Road in Chilliwack

The so-called Jordan principle, which is the definitive 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision clarifying the Charter’s section 11(b) “trial within a reasonable time,” means criminal cases in all Supreme Courts need to be wrapped up in 30 months. In provincial court, that’s 18 months.

Hackl appeared in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack via video from Surrey Pretrial on Thursday (May 1, 2025) where he has been remanded since his arrest and detention in the early hours of May 23, 2023.

The brief appearance in front of Justice Dev Dley, who also appeared via video, was brief as Crown counsel Michelle Wray discussed the case with Hackl’s new lawyer, Marilyn Sandford, who told the court she is not prepared for a trial that was set for July 2025.

The case

It was mid-afternoon on Victoria Day in 2023 when RCMP officers were called to a report of a distraught man in a house with several firearms, at the corner of Queen Street and Knight Road. 

Mounties were on the scene for more than five hours when the situation escalated with neighbours reporting gunshots, and police reported that shots were fired at them. An unconfirmed tip from a source is that a piece of police protective equipment was hit with a bullet, which would explain the attempted murder charge.

There were also reports that Hackl had several, possibly dozens, of firearms in the house, some 3D printed. 

The standoff continued that evening with unsuccessful negotiations ending when the house went up in flames and Hackl was arrested. Neither the RCMP nor the fire department ever explained the cause of the fire, including whether it was intentionally set by officers, a rumour from a neighbour at the time.

The fire was out about an hour after it started but it destroyed the home and most of the possible evidence inside. 

Hackl appeared on video Thursday in courtroom 202 wearing a standard orange jumpsuit. The 31-year-old is caucasian, clean shaven with a bald and/or shaved head. He responded politely “yes” when asked if could hear the proceedings and similarly acted calmly and nodded when it was over. This is noted because at his initial court appearances in summer 2023 he was unco-operative, at first even refusing to give his name to provincial court Judge Kristen Mundstock.

On later dates he refused to come out of his cell at Surrey Pretrial. More than 100 days later at a hearing in September 2023 his bail was denied and he sat silently in the prisoner’s box.

Could charges be dropped?

Based on the strict wording stemming from the Jordan decision, Hackl’s case would need to be wrapped up by October 2025, which is impossible now, or charges could be dropped. However, in calculating time for the sake of Section 11(b), any delay that is caused by the defence is subtracted from the total time. It’s possible the delays caused by Hackl himself in 2023 could be subtracted and in court his week, his lawyer told the court that the inevitable delays because she is new on the case “at the last minute” would be accepted to be at the feet of defence.

Crown availability, however, could then add more delay and all involved will likely be doing some math by December or the new year.

“Jordan is a concern,” Wray told Justice Dley. “I understand the position my friend is in, delay will fall at the feet of defence, but there are some issues with the availabilty of Crown.” 

Whenever the case does begin, there may be no dispute that Hackl fired the shot or shots at police but the case will likely turn on the mens rea, the intent. 

Mens rea can run from intentionally trying to commit an act to being simply reckless or negligent, but the intent needed for a conviction for attempted murder as opposed discharging a firearm with intent to wound/disfigure, could be very different.

Hackl's case was put over to May 12 at 2 p.m. simply to set new dates further down the road.

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Paul J. Henderson
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