A prolific offender with dozens of previous convictions will return to a Penticton court on March 24 as he heads toward his trial.
Andrew Robert Hardenstine is facing charges of including illegally possessing a weapon or ammunition to transfer, possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm, possessing a firearm without a licence or registration, occupying a vehicle knowing a firearm is present, possessing a firearm while prohibited, willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer, disarming a peace officer and assaulting a peace officer, stemming from his arrest on April 5, 2024.
Hardenstine was in Penticton court for four days from Feb.18 to 21, for a voir-dire, which can be thought of as a trial-within-a-trial. The purpose of a voir dire is to determine the admissability of certain pieces of evidence or to address potential breaches of Charter rights but the information presented is barred from publication.
On the day of his April arrest, he had been searching for Hardenstine on warrants for unrelated charges. He was sentenced for the unrelated charges on April 25, 2024, and received a year of jail.
Prior to his arrest, police had unsuccessfully made an attempt on Feb. 21, 2024, when they descended on a property in Osoyoos. That search involved officers from every South Okanagan regional police detachment, Highway Patrol and the Southeast District's Emergency Response Team.
Hardenstine's criminal record dates back to 1999, with it being largely uninterrupted except for periods when he was serving jail sentences.
In 2013, he already had 57 previous criminal convictions. He received a three-year jail sentence in that case after the trial suffered delays when his initial defence lawyer asked to be taken off the case following Hardenstine91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s interruptions of the judge.
In 2018, he was arrested with a small arsenal of firearms, including multiple pistols, a homemade-style shotgun, a crossbow and numerous rounds of ammunition in addition to drugs.
Hardenstine's next scheduled appearance on March 24 is for an unspecified application according to court records.
