Family, friends of missing women await Pickton appeal decision on Thursday

By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun
June 24, 2009 5:32 PM

VANCOUVER -- It was nearly 12 years ago that Sandra Gagnon last heard from her sister Janet Henry, whose face is one of 64 on a police poster of women missing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

So it is with a heavy heart that Gagnon will attend the B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver on Thursday to learn the fate of Robert (Willie) Pickton, who was convicted of killing six of the missing women and is charged in the deaths of another 20.

Henry is among the 38 women whose whereabouts remain unknown, but many of whose relatives and friends have carefully followed the Pickton proceedings.

“It’s really tough because it’s Janet’s anniversary,” Gagnon said. “I feel a bit of anxiety because you never know how [the appeal court decision] is going to go.

“And we still haven’t found Janet. My family and I are still in limbo. We don’t have any answers about where she is.”

Three B.C. Court of Appeal justices are set to rule at 10:30 a.m. Thursday on appeals by the Crown and the defence, which were heard during a nine-day hearing in late March and early April this year.

Defence lawyer Gil McKinnon argued Pickton’s six second-degree murder convictions should be overturned because a B.C. Supreme Court judge made an error during his charge to the jury and while answering a question by the jury during the 2007 trial.

The Crown’s position was that if Pickton’s six convictions are upheld, prosecutors will not proceed with a second trial on the remaining 20 counts. Pickton, 60, would then continue to serve his life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

But if the appeal court rules in Pickton’s favour and orders a new trial, the Crown wants to proceed on all 26 counts of first-degree murder.

Regardless of how the appeal court rules, the Crown or defence is expected to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which would drag these legal proceedings out even longer.

“You know when you hold your breath, and hold your breath, and hold it so long it hurts? That’s what it feels like,” a frustrated Maggy Gisle said Wednesday.

Gisle followed the trial closely because she was friends with four of the six women Pickton was convicted of killing, in particular Georgina Papin, who died in 1999. But she was also good pals with Cara Ellis, one of the other 20 women Pickton is accused of murdering, and whose case will never be tried if there is no second trial.

So for Gisle, there is no clear victory that could come out of the appeal court today.

“I’d like to see the remaining 20 go to trial because if not, the victims and the family members are denied a due process, which is everybody’s right,” she said.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, Judy Trimble, Cara Ellis’s mother, is hoping Pickton wins his appeal because she wants him to be tried for her daughter’s murder.

“I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and keeping my hopes up that he’s going to win his appeal, then there will be another trial and he will be tried for all 26,” Trimble said.

Vancouver criminal lawyer Mark Jette, who is not involved in Pickton’s appeal, said the defence’s appeal bid will be successful only if the appeal court is convinced Pickton’s trial judge did make errors in law, and that those errors were significant enough to have changed the verdict.

Jette used as an analogy the case of Kelly Ellard, who was convicted of killing Reena Virk in her third trial in B.C. Supreme Court. The BC Court of Appeal overturned that verdict, ruling errors in law had been made. But the Supreme Court of Canada restored the guilty verdict earlier this month, concluding the errors were not serious enough to have altered the verdict.

If the three judges split, the losing side has the automatic right to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. If the ruling is unanimous, the losing side has to seek leave to appeal.

lculbert@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Family+friends+missing+women+await+Pickton+appeal+decision+Thursday/1729221/story.html

Crown had powerful evidence against Pickton but judge errors muted it

THE CANADIAN PRESS
April 6, 2009.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Prosecutors had powerful evidence to prove Robert Pickton was a methodical serial murderer who killed 26 women but a judge's ruling at his trial cut the case off at the knees, the Crown argued Monday in the B.C. Court of Appeal.

Prosecutor Gregory Fitch wants the Appeal Court to overturn a ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams, the trial judge, that allowed only six counts against Pickton to proceed, instead of the 26 Pickton is charged with.

That decision, said Fitch, hampered the Crown's ability to use similar-fact evidence to show the Port Coquitlam, B.C., pig farmer had a continuing scheme to kill drug-addicted prostitutes from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Pickton's methods were planned and deliberate, said Fitch, essential elements needed to prove first-degree murder.

But Williams agreed to a defence application to sever 20 of the murder counts, ordering that they be tried later.

Fitch said that diminished the evidence available to the jury aimed at showing similarities among the type of victims, method of killing and disposal of the bodies.

The ruling left gaps in the Crown's case and allowed Pickton's lawyers to undermine the evidence in ways they otherwise would not have been able to do under the original undivided indictment, Fitch told the three-judge Appeal Court panel.

"It left the jury with a highly distorted picture of Mr. Pickton's conduct," he said.

"An efficient trial was achieved but in our submission it was achieved at the expense of a just one."

A jury convicted Pickton of the lesser charge of second-degree murder on all six counts at the end of a lengthy trial in December 2007.

Williams sentenced Pickton to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years, the maximum allowable for second-degree murder but a sentence imposed automatically in first-degree convictions.

Pickton is appealing his convictions.

His lawyers argue, among other things, that he should get a new trial because Williams erred in his instructions to the jury and compounded those mistakes when jurors came back with a question suggesting they thought others might be involved.

The Crown filed a cross appeal, saying if the defence succeeds in getting the verdicts set aside and a new trial ordered, the Crown wants the new trial to hear evidence on all 26 first-degree murder charges.

Fitch said if Pickton loses his appeal and the Crown wins its application, it would ask that the order for a new trial be stayed since Pickton is already serving the maximum prison term.

Some of the evidence in the Crown's appeal includes material still subject to publication bans imposed before and during Pickton's trial.

But Fitch said the Crown's case on the 26 charges added up to a compelling body of evidence that would have demonstrated to a jury Pickton was guilty of first-degree murder on all of them.

"All of the victims fit a common and distinct profile," he said.

Pickton was arrested in February 2002. Police recovered thousands of bits of evidence - from blood samples to bone fragments and victims' belongings - from his ramshackle acreage in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam.

His method of operation was "singular in its brutality and utterly unique," said Fitch.

The women were shot, then butchered, their remains disposed of on the property or delivered to a rendering plant. It runs like a thread through all 26 counts and amounts to a signature or calling card, he said.

The defence has argued the Crown is only now bringing up the similar-fact issue because it wants to take a different tack in any new trial. But Fitch and his colleagues argued the prosecution raised it several times during Pickton's trial.

"The Crown had an overwhelming case these murders were planned and deliberate," said Fitch. "The jury never heard that case."

Both sides are expected to wrap up their submissions by the end of this week, though rulings on the complex duelling appeals are not expected soon.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Crown tells Appeal Court splitting Pickton charges into two trials was wrong

THE CANADIAN PRESS
April 6, 2009

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Crown says a judge's decision to split the Robert Pickton case into two trials was wrong and helped undermined its case for first-degree murder.

Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007 and his lawyers are appealing, saying a new trial should be ordered based on several errors made by the trial judge.

But the Crown began its cross-argument today at the B.C. Court of Appeal saying if there is a retrial, it should be on 26 counts of first-degree murder - not only the six that the lower court heard.

Prosecutor Gregory Fitch says the judge's decision to split the case prevented the Crown from introducing similar fact evidence backing up its theory that the murders were planned.

He says that decision distorted the Crown's case and allowed Pickton's lawyers to undermine the evidence in ways they otherwise would not have been able to do.

If the defence fails in its attempt to have the case retried, the Crown will not challenge the six second-degree murder convictions and will not proceed with the outstanding 20 charges.

© Copyright 2008 Metroland Media Group Ltd.

Darker side of killer's tale waiting to be told

Worst is yet to be released in grisly serial killing

By Ethan Baron, The Province
March 31, 2009

There are things you don't know about the Robert Pickton case.

You probably know Pickton was convicted of murdering six women, and is accused of killing 20 more. You likely know about the trailer, about the pigs. If you followed the trial closely, you know about the fur-lined handcuffs, the associate with a hole through his throat, the beloved horse Goldy whose stuffed head decorated the wall of the serial killer's squalid abode.

But just you wait. Revelations are coming. I would say, "Brace yourself," but it would do no good. You will not be prepared.

You may wonder, how could this case get darker? Women were killed, dismembered, their body parts left to rot, while the greasy-haired, malodorous killer chuckled and grinned his way through a life of petty enterprise, butchering pigs, pushing dirt, and wrenching on cars.

The case gets darker, all right, but I can't tell you how.

Judge-ordered publication bans imposed for the trial remain in place, preventing the media from revealing information from pre-trial proceedings.

When this information is finally made public depends on the outcome of the appeal process. If Pickton loses his appeal and the case is put to rest, the bans will be lifted and The Province will publish stories that would be hard to believe if they weren't the truth.

If he wins his appeal, and is subsequently tried on the other 20 murder charges, some of the information will come to light in that trial, with the rest spilling out after its conclusion.

So it may be that we can reveal to you, within a matter of weeks, all that you don't yet know. Or it could be years before those stories can be published.

In the meantime, we have this appeal, in which the killer's legal team argues that the trial judge failed to properly prepare the jury to make a decision on Pickton's guilt or innocence. The pig butcher's right to a fair trial was compromised, they contend.

Pickton's trial was hugely expensive and, for many, the appeal appears an added, unnecessary burden on the taxpayer. But clearly, trial judge James Williams gave the defence an avenue for appeal. Williams himself admitted he'd erred in his pre-deliberation instructions to the jury, and he attempted to correct his mistake with an amendment.

The defence's introduction yesterday laid out five grounds for Pickton's appeal, all of them related to Williams' jury instructions and his response to a question from the jury during deliberations.

It's too early to say whether the Pickton team has any chance of persuading the three-judge B.C. Court of Appeal panel that Pickton's six murder convictions should be tossed.

Whatever the outcome, the proceedings that began yesterday are a step toward the day when you will find out the complete story behind Canada's most infamous serial-killing case.

ebaron@theprovince.com

© Copyright (c) The Province

Defence opposes Pickton 'confession' video at appeal

By Keith Fraser, Vancouver Province
March 16, 2009 9:02 PM

Vancouver — Prosecutors want to show the B.C. Court of Appeal a 35-minute video of Robert Pickton's statements to police and undercover officers but the move is being opposed by the notorious serial killer's lawyer.

At Pickton's B.C. Supreme Court trial, a jury watched nearly 11 hours of video of the statements and the Crown has produced an edited version to show the Appeal Court panel when the appeal is heard beginning March 30.

B.C. Court of Appeal Chief Justice Lance Finch asked Crown counsel Gregory Fitch why it was so important to show the video when transcripts were available.

Fitch said the answer is that one needs to view the video since it's always been the position of the Crown that the statements amount to a full confession by Pickton.

"Much is lost in simply reading the transcripts. In order to understand the Crown's position, the court will need to look at the video."

But Gil McKinnon, who is representing Pickton during the appeal, told Finch the video did not provide the "proper context" for the 11 hours shown at trial and he will oppose the application.

He said he agreed to excerpts of the statements being included in an agreed statement of facts to assist the court but will not take it to the next step and consent to show an "abbreviated version of the most incriminating aspects of the interrogation."

The defence is appealing Pickton's conviction on six counts of second-degree murder and the Crown is appealing the acquittal of the accused on first-degree murder for the six charges.

Finch heard that the appeal, set to run nine days, will begin with Pickton's appeal in the first week and is to be followed by the Crown appeal in the second week. Six members of the victims' families have said they will attend with another dozen possibly attending.

The next appearance is March 26, when the panel which will hear the appeal will be given a briefing on how the case will unfold.

Pickton still faces 20 additional counts of first-degree murder but the Crown has indicated that only if the defence appeal succeeds will it proceed with a trial on those counts.

© Copyright (c) The Province

Families must pay own way for Pickton appeal hearing

JOSH WINGROVE
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
February 23, 2009 at 10:54 PM EST

The families of six women murdered by Robert Pickton will have to pay their own way if they want to attend a nine-day legal-appeals process scheduled for next month, B.C.'s attorney-general says.

The appeals, scheduled to begin March 30, are a largely technical exercise, as lawyers for the Crown and Mr. Pickton will present arguments in favour of a new trial, submitting “potential legal errors the Judge is alleged to have made …,” a letter to victims' families explains.

Mr. Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder, at a trial attended by many victims' families. Subsidies were provided to them to attend that trial.

But in a letter to families this month, British Columbia's Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor-General indicated that while the hearing will be open for the general public, “travel funding for family members to attend the hearing is not available.”
The province will still provide counselling for victims' families that attend the hearing, scheduled to be held at the B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver.

But yesterday, one family criticized the “callous and picayune” decision to cut travel funding, and said some of the families of the six women won't be able to afford to attend.

“I'm concerned that families who may want to be there will not be there,” said Ernie Crey, who believes his sister Dawn was killed at Mr. Pickton's farm, though she is not one of the six women whom Mr. Pickton was convicted of killing. Mr. Crey attended much of the trial.

“It's a goofy and wrong-headed decision and [the government] should reverse it,” he said.

The ministry letter, dated Feb. 16, lays out the procedural minutiae anticipated to make up the hearings. It also tells families they won't receive daily updates on the hearing through a government website for families of the victims of crime. A general summary of the arguments will be posted after the hearings are complete.

A decision on a new trial won't come out for another “many months,” the letter to families says.

It also says that Mr. Pickton, currently serving life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, will not be attending next month's hearings. He still faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of 20 others.

Some of the graphic and disturbing evidence that was not heard by the jury will be reviewed at the appeal court, though it will largely be covered by a publication ban, the letter says.

The Crown and defence both filed for appeals of the conviction.

The Crown is appealing the jury's acquittal of Mr. Pickton on first-degree murder charges, and the trial judge's decision to divide the original 26 murder charges against Mr. Pickton into two trials, one of six counts and another of 20.

The Crown wants to proceed with the outstanding 20 murder charges only if Mr. Pickton's first six convictions are overturned, and argued a second trial shouldn't go ahead until the appeal is finished. Mr. Pickton's lawyers have pushed for a speedy trial on the other 20 charges.

Under its Victim Travel Fund, the B.C. government allocates up to $3,000 per family of any eligible crime victim for “attendance and participation in justice-related proceedings,” including anything “expected to impact the outcome, disposition or results of the proceeding or hearing.” It's available to immediate family - parents, siblings, a spouse and children - who live more than 100 kilometres away from the court. It's not clear which, if any, families of Mr. Pickton's victims used up their $3,000 allocation during 2007's lengthy trial, or if additional funding would be available for those who hadn't.

With reports from Robert Matas

© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.