Thursday, June 19, 2008

 

Friday June 20 at 9:00 AM ...

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is another one of those Vancouver days when lawyers meet before Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett in Supreme Court for further consideration of the Basi Virk Basi / BC Rail Corruption Case. They will try to decide whether they are ready to proceed with the trial. With baited breath, we await the judge's decision. We always do. It's been 4 years and 6 months of baited breath, waiting.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And ... in another one of those craptacular Vancouver days where courts stumble over their own feet ... nobody remembered to post the listings for today. You know the ones. You, the Public, are supposed to be able to click on "Vancouver Court Direct" in the left margin ... and after 6:30 AM be taken immediately to the list of cases being heard in Vancouver Supreme Court today. Only you can't. Not today. Not just Basi Virk Basi are left off -- everybody whose life might be changed by an appearance in BC Supreme Court today -- they're all left off. There's no doggone Supreme Court Listing atall for today June 20, 2008.

Does this mean ... ah, forget it.

Lousy stinkin' performance. Some handsome salaries oughta be refunded. Phhhttt.

- BC Mary.

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Comments:
And it is with baited breath we await Mary.

Let us hope that there are others out there that can make it to the courthouse. How about some of you working in the Downtown Core who don't need to be at work till noon on Friday? Head for work a little early. Check out the courthouse. Then window shop or whatever.
 
Speaking of Basi and Virk, does anyone know if Bobby Virk is any relation to Sarbjit Singh Virk, the fellow who was arrested in Seattle along with Ravinderjit Shergill(see your archives for June 9 2007). I know Virk is a fairly common name among Sikhs, but it would be interested find out.
 
The court did meet 9am for an hour. Highlights included:
(1)Special Prosecutor admitting his team had fallen behind schedule in spite of working very hard and did not have ready by the time they were supposed to have it ready.
(2)Defense saying they would make an application to call Gordon Campbell as a witness
(3)Next court date set for July 15.
 
Mary,

More delays in the case today. Berardino still not provided materials to the court regarding vetted documents.

I believe that Berardino said they would have the materials next Wed and the defence asked that they meet again with Justice Bennett to see if the materials are in fact ready.

BTW - Berardino promised this material in April!!
 
Hi Mary

Anon 12:51 above is reporting that the hearings resume July 15th. Bill t. in his column says July 14th. I think clarification is in order.
I would also be interested in the report that the SP "admitted his team had fallen behind schedule" and is this the same anon as 2:24 who alludes to the material that was due in April.
If this is correct then it is outrageous that this kind of work is (not) being done. It appears that the defence is way ahead of the prosecution in getting the work done if they have to ask for this material. Repeatedly.
 
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Bill Tieleman and Mark Hume both give JULY 14 as the next pre-trial hearing date. But I hope Anonymous 12:51 isn't discouraged ... we appreciated your report almost-direct from the courtroom.

Dates are becoming more difficult to nail down. Last time around, we were told about a 3-week session in the planning ... with September 8 also lined up. Yesterday (June 20), no mention of that.

As for that &%#$@ Supreme Court on-line non-listing for June 20, I checked it again last evening and it still showed only June 19 court hearings. No changes. No explanation ... like, as if we too must repeatedly ask, beg, plead, wait ... like some colonial outpost ... and sit quietly, bags over heads, when we are ignored.

And doggone it, when you think about Ol' Bill Berardino -- supposedly standing up there in court as Crown Prosecutor, the people's representative -- and he himself seems to be becoming more and more the subject of doubt ... in fact, why was he chosen as Special Prosecutor in the first place, when criminal law is NOT his field of expertise??????

Sheesh.

.
 
So next Court date mid-July, wouldn't want to rush anything, after all!

The Supreme Court in general, as well as regarding the charges arising from the Raid on the Ledge in 2003, are a bad joke in poor taste at the public's expense!

Once again they "forgot" to post the court listings for the day, does anybody that matters actually care? It's probably just some extra good "service" from a contractor with connections (or lobbyists)!

If you are a private contractor with the right connections, donation record or lobbying firms representing you - providing service of value/quality to the citizens of British Columbia is hardly a relevant issue.

I'm enjoying watching the media try to contort themselves to say in regard to Campbell "Carbon Tax Good and Green" and when it comes to Stephane Dion it's more like "Carbon Tax Crazy!" Proving they can spin the same issue clockwise or counter-clockwise, as suits their more subtle agenda.

It was delightful watching not so Little Stephen hide from St John McCain yesterday also!
 
Hi Mary
Since the last screwup with the courts list I started checking pretty regularly (just in case they have a court date set that we don't know about). Last night, Sunday I decided to do another check. When I do these checks I also look up the "completed court lists" There it was. Completed. Only one defendant was named and the rest were as "Limited Access".

Now this list was not there on Saturday as I checked. And on Sunday they were still not listed on the main docket online.

One can only assume that Somebody got overtime or the delay was in the server. I think the former would be a good thought after seeing the previous performances.

What really interested me is that the case was NOT entered in the main docket yet was in the completed list. How could that happen?
 
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Gary E,

Special thanks for staying on this. I don't know what to think. Could it be as simple as a staff screw-up? But, if so, isn't there supervision? And a Plan B at the ready? It seems a shockingly careless way to deal with people's fears (and visits to Supreme Court can't be happy visits).

Do you know if there's a number where people could phone to get answers to questions like this?

Something like Inquiry BC only for Supreme Court?

Anyone know ... ?

Thanks again, Gary E.

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I think the following may help. If not there is a whole section under:
Court Services Branch Contact Guidlines for Courthouse Users.

Court Services Branch Contact Guidelines For Courthouse Users

The following contact information is provided to expedite access to the most appropriate Branch contacts to address operational concerns.

Court Administration Matters such as:

timeliness... complaints with respect to service delivery as it relates to counter, telephone or written inquiries; delay in obtaining court orders;
facilities…repairs or maintenance with respect to heating and cooling; property damage; data or telephone installation and repairs; minor tenant improvements.


issues, concerns relating to court administration activities, facilities matters relating to a specific court house - contact the local manager
issues, concerns relating to court administration activities relating to the entire district, or where a local manager is unable to resolve the concern - contact the Senior District Manager
Provincial issues pertaining to overall operational concerns, or where the Senior District Manager is unable to resolve the concern - contact the Executive Director, Court Administration Services

Tel: 604-660-2847
Fax: 604-660-2420
 
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