London Mayor Joe Fontana made a surprise appearance in court Friday to change how his upcoming criminal trial will be tried.

Fontana, 63, of Arva is charged with fraud under $5,000, uttering forged documents and breach of trust by a public official. He will have his case tried by a Superior Court judge, not a jury as originally requested.

Fontana appeared before Justice Andrew Goodman for the short proceeding that lasted no more than a couple of minutes.

Fontana was upbeat and smiled, but didn’t have any comment when he arrived Friday morning at court with his defence lawyer Gordon Cudmore.

Outside court, Cudmore said he had been considering a judge-alone trial for some time and in no way tried to sneak Friday’s court appearance past the watchful eyes of the media.

Fontana had to appear in person to change his election, Cudmore said, and the court selected Friday as a appearance dates.

A judge-alone trial, Cudmore said, should be easier to schedule.

“Jury selection and a jury trial take longer than a judge-alone trial,” he said. “A lot of this was done for the reasons of hoping to get in as early a trial date as possible.”

Cudmore said he hopes to have a trial “in the spring or hopefully the summer.”

“He wants this over with, I’m sure the city wants it over with. So I think it’s in everybody’s interest that the trial be conducted as soon as possible and let the decision come out.”

Fontana’s trial date will be set Dec. 10.

The charges relate to a Public Works cheque for $1,700 the Crown says was used to pay for Fontana’s son’s wedding reception in 2005 when he was a member of Parliament.

jane.sims@sunmedia.ca

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