KELOWNA – A B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed an application from three accused killers to throw out the charges they face over the length of time the case has taken to get to trial.
Justice Allan Betton announced his ruling Monday before Crown prosecutors continued their second week of evidence against Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones, who are accused of killing gangster Jonathan Bacon in August 2011.
While Betton dismissed the application, he provided no reasons for doing so.
He said he was preparing detailed reasons that would be released later.
Lawyers for the three gang associates argued that their clients have been in custody since their arrest in February 2013 – more than four years before their trial began here last month.
Last summer, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that criminal trials at the supreme court level should be completed within 30 months unless there are “exceptional circumstances.”
At the provincial court level, trials should be completed within 18 months of charges being laid.
The SCC ruling has led to dozens of applications to throw out charges in B.C. Some have been successful, but others have been dismissed.
So far, no murder charges have been stayed in B.C. because of the SCC ruling, though in other provinces some accused killers have been freed.
Gang police on steps of the Kelowna Law Courts on June 1, 2017. Inside Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones are on trial for the killing of Red Scorpion gang leader Jonathan Bacon. B.C Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton is presiding over the judge-alone trial.
Betton’s ruling cleared the way for the Crown to continue calling witnesses in the case.
Gary Maltby, director of security at the Delta Grand, described getting the call on the Sunday afternoon that Bacon was shot outside the popular resort.
He said he arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the shooting.
He helped police secure surveillance video from the hotel which is expected to be played at the judge-alone trial in the coming days.
Khun-Khun, McBride and Jones are alleged to have shot up a white Porsche Cayenne leaving the Delta’s courtyard about 2:40 on Aug. 14, 2011.
Red Scorpion leader Bacon was killed, Hells Angel Larry Amero and passengers Leah Hadden-Watt and Lyndsey Black were wounded and Independent Soldier James Riach escaped injury.
The Crown alleges the gangsters were targeted because the late Sukh Dhak blamed Amero, Bacon and Riach for the October 2010 murder of his brother Gurmit at Burnaby’s Metrotown mall.
Sukh Dhak has since been shot dead, as was a fourth man alleged to have been involved in the shooting, Manny Hairan.
The trial continues.
kbolan@postmedia.com
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