The Legislature Raids

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JUDGE SLAMS CROWN IN BASI, VIRK TRIAL (12:33 pm)
Neal Hall
Vancouver Sun - Monday, June 04, 2007

A judge had some scathing comments today about the insufficient Crown disclosure of documents in the case of two B.C. government ministerial aides accused of corruption.

"Disclosure is a constitutional right," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett said in an oral ruling. "This right has not been sufficiently respected so far in this process."

The judge noted that the defence is entitled to disclosure in a timely fashion, but added: "The review of the many problems with this case demonstrates that disclosure has not been sufficiently made in a timely way."

One of the problems has been the additional police notes keep getting found and disclosed to defence, including some since the pre-trial application began.

The judge made a sweeping order for every police officer involved in the case to "review every piece of paper he or she has and ensure that it is submitted to the Crown forthwith."

She added she regretted having to make the order so broad, but added there had been a "substantial failure to respect the disclosure rights of the accused" and she wanted to avoid a miscarriage of justice. {Snip} ...

At the heart of the case is the government's privatization sale of BC Rail.
The Crown alleges Basi and Virk accepted bribes from a lobbyist representing one of the bidders for the railway. Basi and Virk allegedly leaked confidential government information about the bidding process.

nhall@png.canwest.com

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