A Saskatoon police officer will be headed to trial this spring.

Const. Steven Nelson was suspended with pay last month after the police announced he had been charged with attempting to obstruct justice.

His lawyer entered a not guilty plea at Saskatoon provincial court Thursday on his behalf. A trial was set for April 28 and court determined an out-of-town judge and prosecutor will be brought in for the case.

“Every time a Saskatoon police officer is charged, automatically an out-of-town judge and prosecutor are assigned to the file, so there is no conception of bias or anything like that,” said defence lawyer Brad Mitchell, adding that Nelson will be treated the same as any other accused.

“It’s the same rules, the same procedure as any other individual charged.”

The charge was laid following an internal investigation and provincial justice review into a missing victim’s statement from an August 2012 domestic violence case that Nelson was investigating.

The victim’s statement disappeared sometime between August 2012, when Nelson was assigned to the case, and October 2013, when the issue was brought to light.

Police Chief Clive Weighill said last month Nelson, a nine-year member of the service, did not know those involved in the domestic case prior to the investigation.

The charge was the first complaint Nelson has ever had laid against him.