Monday, July 05, 2010

 

Courtroom 54 to be in use at 11:15AM today

This morning at 5:34 someone actually published the court schedule for today and it included Basi, Virk and Basi (well one Basi was listed as "LIMITED ACCESS!")

One would expect based on where things stood last Wednesday for the jury to be present and for Martyn Brown to spend another day saying "I don't recall!" But then who knows, somebody could have thought up some reason to engage in legal wrangling or Wild Bill might object to the first question from Michael Bolton, depriving Mr. Brown of an opportunity to say he doesn't remember and sending the jury home for the summer early.

Unfortunately Robin Mathews will be elsewhere this week so he won't be able to attend the last three days of trial before summer recess. Hopefully some of our citizen journalists will be able to attend so we don't have to depend on the non-reporters of Canwest, Global, CTV and the "accreditation panel" who are more inclined to hide or spin information than make it available to the public.


Comments:
And these will be critically important sessions in BC Supreme Courtroom 54, too.

Thanks for the tip-off, Koot.

I'll be watching closely for further reports from Citizen journalists and "others" ...
.
 
Morning Report

I will be there today and will report in on the days events. I have appreciated the kind comments from your readers and will be working on some more detailed work. Rest assured, those articles will never appear in the Vancouver Sun or the other mainstream media. Shame on them.

I also have learned that the MSM is ignoring more information about the privatization of BC Ferries. Will try to provide more information as I can research it.

Citizen Journalist from 54
 
NO TRIAL TODAY - JURY EXCUSED DUE TO ISSUES THAT HAD BEEN RAISED.
 
Posted 2 hours ago by Neal Hall

VANCOUVER - The Crown is expected to call its second witness Tuesday at the Basi-Virk political corruption trial.

The next witness will be Allan Wallace of CIBC World Markets.

He was expected to be called Monday but the judge has excused the jury until Tuesday morning after a legal issue arose that needed to be sorted out.

The judge has imposed a publication ban on anything heard in the jury's absence.

Wallace was part of the financial advisory team when the government decided to privatize BC Rail in 2003.

The trial jury has heard an allegation from the defence that CIBC's financial advisor contract was worth millions but was never put out for public tender, which broke a campaign promise by the BC Liberal government.

The trial has heard no evidence to substantiate the defence allegation.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/witness+start+testimony+Tuesday+Basi+Virk+trial/3237866/story.html#ixzz0sqfxMoq5
 
Sufferin' Pete, and we're not allowed to know why?

Really ... we must get something together, requesting the court to lift (in whole or in part) that cockeyed publication ban.

This is outrageous. Does the judge not know what she's doing?
.
 
So many of we regular guys, think the BC Rail corruption fiasco, is a farce. The say, Campbell is controlling the Judicial system, the RCMP, newspapers, the TV media, the FOI papers. How could Campbell, fraudulently sell the BCR, and not know the terms, el toro poo poo. Martyn Brown, seems brain dead, makes a person wonder, how he remembers his way home. The BC people, have seen Justice, being corrupt, more than once. I have quit buying, all Vancouver newspapers. They are in your face biased. It is obvious, no bad press for Campbell is allowed, to reach the masses.
 
I found a article written in May by Mike Geoghegan,which I had missed seeing, possibly other's did also. It speaks of the Jury and prosecution not wanting any indo canadians.
http://www.themarknews.com/articles/1573-the-basi-virk-trial-political-theatre

"It has certainly not escaped my attention or that of many others who have been following this trial that all of the accused are Indo-Canadian, while all those who have been offered immunity from prosecution in return for their testimony are Caucasian.

This colour distinction was further reinforced when, during jury selection – which I myself observed – the prosecution objected to all jury candidates who were Indo-Canadian. The result is a jury that includes no Indo-Canadians and, with one exception, is made up entirely of Caucasians.

The result is a trial about political intrigue that is itself muddied with intrigue. At the end of the day, there seems little likelihood of truth or justice emerging from this process. What there will be, however, is great political theatre, and that, at the end of the day, is what we British Columbians relish most.
----------------
This British Columbian does not relish that at all!!!!!

Another good page to read regarding crown Prosecutors, and references a comment made on CBC basi virk trial.

What is the defence lawyer up to anyway? Rishi Gill
(
"stated that the defence lawyers are acting like the prosecutors and the prosecutor of Mssrs. Basi, Basi, and Virk is acting like the defence lawyer for the government."

http://www.rishigill.com/blog/

read the top part of the page also.
 
I Figured it out. If nothing is going to happen,ie; the jury will be excused, then they get the docket out online beforehand. If the trial is to continue then they throw in all the confusion they can. Don't let them ware us down.
 
RISHI gill page noted above,and Neal Halls statements(more than once)"no evidence to substantiate"

When a defence is put forward and a defence witness takes the stand and provides his evidence it is very important that things he says and evidence led through him have been put to Crown witnesses. For example, Campbell’s Chief of Staff was asked whether he knew that the Premier told Mr. Virk that he would be “looked after”. You can be sure (unless defence counsel truly is somewhat reckless and is just spreading muck) that when a defence is called a witness is going to say that the Premier told Mr. Virk that he would be “looked after”.

I am sure Crown was taking careful notes of whatever was put to the Chief of Staff by defence. The Crown (well, more likely the junior Crown doing all the scut work) will immediately begin looking over evidence on the relevant topic and try to figure out where defence is going. Remember, the Crown has to disclose the entire case and its theory to the defence. The defence doesn’t have to even tell the Court or Crown whether a defence will be called."
.......
(I love this part)

"However, what makes Crown sweat is the possibility that the defence has a hard piece of evidence supporting the allegation. An email perhaps, or another credible objective witness who heard the substance of the allegation. Even better, if the objective evidence supported the notion that the Chief of Staff knew all about the alleged call by the Premier to Virk so couldn’t be “shocked, completely shocked” that it occurred."
 
One of the questions that M. Bolton put to Martyn Brown was "Why was CIBC World Markets chosen?" Answer from M. Brown: "Very respected company." to which ..... M. Bolton tossed out this bone, oops, allegation....."are you aware that CIBC World Markets had to pay a fine of $2.4 billion?"

Answer from M. Brown "No"


Yep, during the time that BC Rail was put on the market to the "highest bidder", Enron was going down the tubes and taking along with it was CIBC World Markets with three Executives being named and the company paying a fine to SEC for $2.4 BILLION.

"NEW YORK — Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has agreed to pay $2.4 billion to resolve investors’ claims it helped hide losses at Enron Corp., marking the biggest individual settlement since the energy trader collapsed in a massive accounting fraud.

The settlement announced Tuesday with the Toronto-based bank — Canada’s fifth-largest financial institution and the operator of the securities firm CIBC World Markets — could help compensate investors who lost tens of billions of dollars when Enron failed in 2001."

SNIP

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8801056/
 

The trial has heard no evidence to substantiate the defence allegation.


The public has heard no evidence to prove otherwise, however.....where is the record of tenders for that contract?? Maybe it's been redacted tom protect "privilege". Maybe it's been deleted.

Maybe it just never existed. Hall is asking, basically, for a negative proof. "Show me evidence of the non-existent".

Better yet, show us the record of the fair tendering process for this report, Mr. Hall. Surely an "accredited" journalist would have the resources to find it, if it did exist.
 
In response to the anon-o-mouse above who quoted Mr. Bolton's question:

"One of the questions that M. Bolton put to Martyn Brown was "Why was CIBC World Markets chosen?" Answer from M. Brown: "Very respected company.""

I would suggest that one think of the expression "Birds of the feather flock together."

The Campbell Crime Family PREFERS to do business with other morally, legally and ethically challenged organizations. That's why they are really anxious to do business with ANYBODY associated with Kenny "Boy" Lay and Enron. (another interesting aside about the Enron gang - the smartest (or sleaziest) guys in the room - is how almost everyone of them was very piously a born again Xtian)

Accenture is the new supposedly "rehabilitated" version of Anderson Accounting who cooked the books for Enron and HAD to change their name in order to attract any clients other than the actual MOB. The state of California, not exactly an icon of probity, except in comparison to the rogue jusrisdiction known as BC, has blacklisted Accenture from doing business with the state, if not within the state.

Then there is CIBC, fined 2.4 billion for their involvement with the Enron scam - I mean with five major Canadian banks to choose from, who would the crooked Campbell regime choose but the most criminally inclined? I still remember when CIBC was the last bank in my town to have "super cashiers/tellers" who the teller dealing with the customer had to go to to actually receive the withdrawal funds requested by the customer - who was left waiting at the head of the line up waiting to receive his funds from the untrustworthy (apparently) customer service teller.

Of course people tend to impugn others with their own failings, thus the greed bag corporate elite paint the "unions" as being greedy and "special interests" and CIBC didn't trust their own tellers - because the higher ups knew how venal they themselves were perhaps?

Gordon Campbell led the crusade against Gordon Wilson for marital infidelity, how cute! The remnants of the Sew Cruds, ie. the Campbelloids went after Glen Clark, accusing him of inflence peddling for gaming licenses - how quaint coming from the same people who made a full time career out of funny liquor licenses and now build 1/2 billion dollar roofs to satisfy their casino interested friends - even encouraging Kevin Krueger to talk on his cell and drive at the same time to please the gamers and their games.

Then there is the issue of handing BC Gas Transmission over to the US company with the worst safety record in North America - well until BP challenged for and won the title with their current and ongoing show in the Gulf of Mexico.

I repeat - you can tell sleaze by the company they keep and:

BIRDS OF THE FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER!
 
Maybe He should have asked about Charles Rivers
March 09

B.C. Rail selloff report riles NDP
By Carlito Pablo

NDP Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog has even suggested that the report rendered by the Boston-based Charles River Associates may have been modified by the government.
NDP MLA Leonard Krog

“You’re doing a report to tell the world that the government is fair, and then you give it to them to look at, to potentially change it,” Krog told the Georgia Straight, referring to two e-mails between CRA and government staff prior to the release of the fairness report.

http://www.straight.com/article-205449/railselloff-report-riles-ndp
 
Post a Comment



<< Home