Supreme Court asked to allow more bail information

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service

Felicity Don/Reuters

OTTAWA -- Lawyers from the Edmonton Journal and other media organizations on Monday asked the Supreme Court of Canada to loosen restrictions on what the public has the right to know about evidence presented at bail hearings.

The case was launched following a publication ban at a hearing in which an Edmonton man accused of killing his pregnant wife was granted bail.

"Keeping the public in the dark, in my opinion, can be a recipe for uninformed speculation, fuelling widely publicized concern in the community [and] a far greater risk to the fair trial rights of the accused and the Crown," said Fred Kozak who is representing CBC, CTV and the Journal.

Mr. Kozak said that the publication ban on details presented at the bail hearing deprived the public from being informed in the media about why the suspect, Michael White, had been granted bail at the time.

"People were outraged when he was released on bail," said Mr. Kozak. "People wanted to know the reason why he was released, distressed neighbours feared for their safety and the safety of their children, and others circulated petitions asking that bail laws be changed."

During a bail hearing, the Crown prosecutor will typically outline the nature of the case and the evidence gathered by police, and in some instances, will refer to the accused person's criminal record.

In deciding whether to grant bail, a judge considers whether the accused is likely to return to court or is a danger to the public. The judge also strives to maintain public confidence in the justice system.

Lawyers for some of the suspects arrested in connection with an alleged terrorism plot in Toronto also supported the media's case, arguing that the media ban in their cases prevented them from publicly countering allegations made by police.

The lawyers, including Paul Schabas, who represented the Toronto Star, said the public would have more confidence in the justice system if judges published reasons for their decisions and as much information as possible. But they recognized that they should still be able to ban specific evidence that would affect an accused's fair trial rights.

Lawyers representing the federal government and provincial attorneys general from Alberta and Ontario argued that the existing laws should be upheld to ensure fair trials in the system. They noted that suspects generally don't have a great deal of information about the evidence or the capacity to respond to allegations at bail hearings which are in the early stages of their case, following an arrest.

Jolaine Antonio, who represented the Alberta government, said society would lose if it allowed excessive pre-trial publicity that could potentially influence a jury prior to its selection.

"The Crown at least, doesn't want to meet that first case, where a fair trial is not available." Ms. Antonio said. "That is a situation to be avoided at all costs."

While the media lawyers argued that juries were selected quickly in high-profile murder cases with extensive pre-trial media coverage, such as those of Robert Pickton and Paul Bernardo, the government lawyers argued that the existing laws were the ones that ensured fair trials.

"The very remedy which these opponents seeks would have made that jury selection substantially more difficult, substantially longer and placed under a substantially crumbling cloud, which thankfully, we don't have," said David Lepofsky, who represented the Ontario government.

© 2009 The National Post Company. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.

DNA of Sharon Abraham found on Pickton farm

Police to recommend Pickton be charged for deaths of six more women

The DNA of 32 women has been seized from Pickton’s Port Coquitlam farm.

By LORI CULBERT, Vancouver Sun

October 29, 2009 3:02 PM

Sharon Abraham with her daughters in 1990.

Photograph by: Teresa Hardy, submitted

METRO VANCOUVER -- Twenty years ago, Sharon Abraham was a “confident, outgoing” woman and the doting mother of two beautiful daughters, her former friend says.

But the RCMP has now confirmed that ongoing testing of evidence seized from serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton’s farm has found the DNA of Abraham and another missing woman, Stephanie Lane.

The development means the DNA of 32 women has been seized from Pickton’s farm — half the names on a police poster of 64 women who vanished from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside from 1978 to 2001.

Pickton was convicted of killing six of those women, and is charged with killing another 20 — but any second trial is on hold pending the appeal of his first trial.

Abraham and Lane join four other women, Yvonne Boen, Jackie Murdock, Dawn Crey and Nancy Clark, whose DNA police previously said was found on the farm.

RCMP Const. Annie Linteau said the Missing Women Task Force is preparing a report to Crown counsel recommending charges against Pickton for those six women, even though police have been told verbally by the Crown that the charges will likely never be laid.

Linteau said police are still sending the report to conclude their investigation, and to be prepared in case a new trial against Pickton is ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada, which will hear his appeal in March.

“We are sending all the findings of our investigation to the Crown for their consideration, even though we have been told by Crown and the public has been told by Crown they would not proceed with additional charges,” Linteau said.

Crown spokesman Neil Mackenzie said prosecutors will look at the police report when it arrives, but reiterated if Pickton loses his appeal then no additional charges will be taken to trial against the former Port Coquitlam pig farmer, who is serving a life sentence.

The Crown’s decision has disappointed many families.

Very little has ever been published about Abraham, but her friend Teresa Hardy contacted The Vancouver Sun to share memories of her former roommate in happier times.

The two women lived together in 1989, after meeting in a Lower Mainland transition house. Abraham, who had a toddler and a baby, was starting her life over after leaving an abusive relationship.

“She never drank when she was with me, never did drugs. We didn’t go to bars. We did things with the kids,” Hardy said. “She always made sure the kids had diapers. She wasn’t out buying cigarettes and beer. She always made sure the rent was paid and there was food in the house.”

Hardy last saw her friend in 1990, when Abraham and her girls had their own apartment, and was shocked to learn her friend disappeared in 2000.

“The three of them were such a happy family unit,” Hardy said. ... I’d like to tell her kids some day that their mom was pretty cool. It breaks my heart because she loved them so much."

lculbert@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/Police+recommend+Pickton+charged+deaths+more+women/2159939/story.html

Pickton appeal hearing set for next March 25 in nation’s top court

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | 1:50 pm

Canwest News Service

VANCOUVER – The Supreme Court of Canada has set a tentative date of next March 25 to begin hearing the appeal of serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton.

Pickton, 56, was convicted on Dec. 9, 2007, of six counts of second-degree murder involving women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: Mona Wilson, Brenda Wolfe, Sereena Abotsway, Andrea Joesbury, Marnie Frey and Georgina Papin.

He still faces trial on another 20 counts of first-degree murder, but the Crown does not plan to proceed on that second trial if Pickton’s convictions are upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Still, the 20-count indictment was in court today and the second trial has been set to begin Sept. 13, 2010.

The date was set anticipating it may take months for a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada on Pickton’s appeal.

Last June 25,the B.C. Court of Appeal denied Pickton’s bid for a new trial, but a dissseting judgment by one judge of the three-judge panel gave Pickton an automatic right to appeal his case before the nation’s highest court in Ottawa.

In a 2-1 split decision, Chief Justice Lance Finch and Richard Low turned down Pickton’s bid for a new trial, largely rejecting many of the defence arguments.

The Crown, Pickton’s defence had argued on appeal, pursued a theory during the trial that Pickton had acted alone, but as a result of a question by the jury during deliberations switched gears and suggested he could have had an accomplice.

Pickton’s defence also alleged the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams, erred in his response to a jury question.

However, Justice Ian Donald disagreed with his colleagues, saying that Williams made “a serious error of law” and that there was a “miscarriage of justice.”

Donald did not think it was fair for the Crown to introduce the possibility Pickton acted with someone else so late in the trial.

“I view the Crown’s behaviour as scrambling to recover ground,” he wrote.

The confusion could have led to the jury’s verdict of second-degree murder, instead of first-degree, Donald wrote.

“Despite the body of evidence against Pickton, the jury deliberated over nine days and reached the somewhat curious result of second-degree murder.”

The Appeal Court also released a ruling on a separate appeal by the Crown.

The three justices unanimously agreed with the Crown that Williams made several errors in law, included severing the 26 counts into two trials; not allowing a key witness to testify; and prohibiting certain similar fact evidence from being admitted. Most details about this evidence are protected by a publication ban.

Still, they said, “there would be no useful purpose” to remedy these errors by ordering a new trial on 26 counts of first-degree murder if Pickton’s six convictions are upheld and he continues to serve his life sentence.

Pickton was initially charged in February 2002 with two counts of first- degree murder after police raided his Port Coquitlam farm. He was eventually charged with 27 counts.

The trial judge stayed one count involving a Jane Doe, a woman whose identity was never identified.

Pickton’s first murder trial began on Jan. 22, 2007.

nhall@vancouversun.com

© 2009 Kelowna.com. All Rights Reserved.

Pickton to appeal pig farm murders to top court

By Keith Fraser, Vancouver Province
June 26, 2009

VANCOUVER — A day after he lost a bid to overturn his six murder convictions, serial killer Robert Pickton has decided to appeal his case to Canada's highest court.

Pickton's lawyer Gil McKinnon confirmed on Friday that his client will "soon" file an appeal to be heard in the Supreme Court of Canada.

The 59-year-old former pig farmer from the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam was given the automatic right of appeal because the B.C. Court of Appeal ruling upholding the convictions on Thursday was a split decision.

McKinnon said the appeal would be based on the dissenting opinion of B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Ian Donald. He did not say when the appeal might be heard in Ottawa.

In a lengthy ruling, the majority opinion of the B.C. Court of Appeal found that the evidence strongly suggested that Pickton was the killer or one of the killers on all of the murder counts and rejected his appeal arguments.

Donald admitted that the Crown had a "powerful case" but found that errors by the trial judge amounted to a miscarriage of justice and called for a new trial.

McKinnon represented Pickton at the nine-day Appeal Court hearing earlier this year.

In December 2007, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found Pickton guilty of six counts of second-degree murder after being found not guilty of six counts of first-degree murder. Pickton lured the women, all sex-trade workers from Vancouver's drug-plagued Downtown Eastside, to his pig farm and murdered them.

Pickton was initially charged with 26 counts of murder but the Crown has said it will not proceed with the remaining 20 counts if the murder convictions are upheld.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

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

Pickton appeal judgment due next week

By NEAL HALL , Vancouver Sun
June 17, 2009 4:55 PM

VANCOUVER – A decision in the appeal of serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton is set for June 25.

Families of Pickton’s murder victims have received advance notice of the pending decision by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

The appeal court will render two judgments — one deciding Pickton’s appeal and the other deciding a cross-appeal by the Crown.

Regardless of how the appeal court rules, the Crown or defence is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

A split 2-1 decision by the three-judge appeal panel would allow an automatic right of appeal to the nation’s top court.

Pickton, 60, was originally charged with the first-degree murder of 27 women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

One charge involving an unknown victim listed as “Jane Doe” was stayed by the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams, who then decided the remaining 26 counts should be divided into two trials — one involving six charges and the other involving 20 murder counts.

The Crown elected to proceed on six counts at the first trial, which ended on Dec. 9, 2007 with a jury convicting Pickton of the second-degree murder of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey.

The killer, who lived on a farm in Port Coquitlam with his brother, was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years.

The Crown’s position on appeal was that if Pickton’s convictions are upheld, the Crown would not proceed with a second trial. But if the appeal court orders a new trial, the Crown wants to proceed on all 26 murder counts.

Pickton’s current lawyer, Gil McKinnon, argued at the appeal hearing that the trial judge made an error during his charge to the jury and how he dealt with a juror’s question.

Witnesses at Pickton’s trial testified about how he often butchered pigs on the sprawling farm, which was surrounded by residential development.

The Pickton case was the largest serial killer investigation in Canadian history. Two years ago, officials estimated the police investigation cost about $70 million, with the trial costs estimated at another $46 million.

The Crown is expected to release a final tally of the costs after all appeals are exhausted.

nhall@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Crown says new trial for Pickton wouldn't be in 'interests of justice'

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 | 6:57 PM PT
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ordering a new trial for convicted serial killer Robert Pickton would not be "in the interests of justice" and British Columbia's top court must guard against inadvertently triggering one, prosecutors argued Wednesday in the B.C. Court of Appeal.

There are currently two appeals before the court: the defence is challenging Pickton's six second-degree murder convictions, while the Crown is appealing his six acquittals on first-degree murder.

If a new trial is ordered, the Crown wants Pickton tried on all 26 first-degree murder charges that were laid against him.

But prosecutor Gregory Fitch made it clear the Crown would ultimately prefer the second-degree convictions stand and Pickton simply stay in prison, his legal saga over.

"It would not be in the interests of justice to simply order a new trial for first-degree murder … if a new trial is not otherwise required," Fitch told the three judges hearing the appeal.

Fitch is concerned that the Appeal Court could deny Pickton's appeal while granting the Crown's, which could have the unintended effect of ordering a new trial that the Crown doesn't want.

In that event, Fitch wants the court to stay the order for a new trial on first-degree murder, allowing the Crown to simply leave Pickton in prison and not pursue the remaining charges.

"It merely suspends, for a limited time or permanently, the underlying order" for a new trial on first-degree murder, Fitch said.

One of the judges questioned whether such an order was even in the Appeal Court's jurisdiction.

"The problem I see is that Mr. Pickton could lose his appeal and the Crown could ultimately win its appeal," said Justice Richard Low. "Logically, in these events, there would have to be a new trial."

Fitch cited case law that he said gave the court such power.

He also said that if the Appeal Court concludes it has no other option than to order the trial, even if the original convictions stand, he wants another hearing to further argue his point.
Pickton convicted in 2007

Pickton was arrested in February 2002, setting off a massive search of his farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C., where investigators found evidence including blood samples, bone fragments and the belongings of women who had disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The pig farmer was convicted in December 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years — the automatic sentence for first-degree murder and the maximum sentence available.

The Crown's appeal focuses on the trial judge's decision to split 26 first-degree murder charges into two separate trials, dealing with six counts first and leaving the 20 remaining charges for a later trial.

Prosecutors have argued that severing the charges limited their ability to use similar-fact evidence — similarities between the different murders — to show Pickton had a scheme to kill prostitutes from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Fitch earlier argued that such evidence would have helped demonstrate the killings were planned and deliberate, essential elements needed to prove first-degree murder.

But Pickton's lawyers said the Crown is attempting to make new arguments that weren't brought up in trial.

"The Crown paid little attention to planning and deliberation, since their theory was that Pickton acted alone," said defence lawyer Gil McKinnon.

Arguments at the appeal are expected to wrap up on Thursday.

© The Canadian Press, 2009

Story comments (22)

wolf320 wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 8:57 AM ET"Not in the interest of justice" ??????? Canada doesn't have a justice system, we have a legal system since there is never any justice for the victims.
If Pickton was arrested in Feb. of 2002 and convicted in Dec. of 2007, does that mean he was serving remand time that counts double? Deduct 118 months from the 25 years "Life" sentence plus the time served since Dec. of 2007 he has already served 133 months in total, he will be out on parole in under 14 years from now.
Who can call that justice?

1 Agree
1 Disagree

julaflamme wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 8:02 AM ETPicton has had enough publicity - at the expense of the public.
I would rather see any money that would be spent on a trial & associated costs directed towards doing something constructive for the people in similar situations to the victims - even if there were just places for them to get a good hot meal & a shower every so often - not on lawyers posturing for attention, judges with their overinflated salaries, or investigators who have probably seen enough of the gore to last them a lifetime & could be focusing their energy better on other cases. He is where he should be, & as long as he is there for life - what is the point of any further court action? The victims' families need to grieve & move on - not have more details & stupid defense arguements to lessen or justify the horror of this animal's actions

4 agree
0 disagree

WC. Kelowna wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 7:09 AM ETSometimes, people in authority use words that have a different meaning
than what was intended.. " Justice would not be served.."
Justice to me means that he should be tried for every woman that he
killed, dismembered, and disposed of ! The families of the victims deserve
at least that !
Justice means society electing governments to make laws and enforce
them so that society may live a crime - free and peaceful life !
Not the Law Society which includes; Judges, lawyers (including prosecution) making unilateral decisions... The real Society or Public want to ensure that Pickton never ever sees the outside of a maiximum security jail for the rest of his natural life ! So that no glitch, or proceedural hiccup, ever lets this man out of jail...
By cancelling further proceedings lends a message to those involved in Crime, the courts will never finish the total job that the public (who pays their wages) wishes. So, want to control British Columbia or Canada ? Become a lawyer as no matter what the people want, you'll have the final say !

2 agree
6 disagree

Tax Me...I'm Canadian wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 6:47 AM ETHow many trials do you need when he's already incarcerated for life? This would be a huge waste of time and money.

9 agree
0 disagree

Rock1971 wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 6:08 AM ETI heard he made one helluva bacon sandwich though?

1 agree
17 disagree

carlbailey wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 3:21 AM ETyeah, it wouldn't be at all in the interests of justice to question a verdict against an imbecile, not if it means asking why the cops did so little over that decade of disappearances, or why would cocaine dealers call 9/11 if a hooker OD's on the same premises they're storing their product on.

1 agree
4 disagree

covecay wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 1:20 AM ETthese notorious killers get all the lime light. we've heard from this guy for too long. put him away, lock up the key and lets never hear from him again.

34 agree
0 disagree

Mel Content wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 1:11 AM ETI,m sure there is a big line up of low brow lawyers who will be pissed at the loss of this potential "appeal" revenue , if the crown doesnt try again!

22 agree
2 disagree

Kim Jung ill the Lesser Evil wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 12:37 AM ETLots of possiblities hard to say what the lesser evil is.

He tortured this women and chopped them up, a sick man obessed by Blood and torture.

15 agree
1 disagree

BooHooHoo wrote:Posted 2009/04/09

at 12:23 AM ETWilly for Mayor!

4 agree
21 disagree

Don at Calgary wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:55 PM ETLeonWalskey says,

" SECOND trial so his victims can at least have their day in court. "

I wouldn't be surprised if no one wanted their day in court at this point. There has been too much hurt. Time to move on. He can't be punished anymore anyway, no matter what happens. I think this would be what the dead would say, if they could. They wouldnt want their families to suffer any more trials.

37 agree
0 disagree

Meggsy wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:52 PM ETLet him rot, and open a case on the rest of the family.

26 agree
3 disagree

roberticus wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:46 PM ET"...But prosecutor Gregory Fitch made it clear the Crown would ultimately prefer the second-degree convictions stand and Pickton simply stay in prison, his legal saga over..."

Amen to that. He was convicted 16 months ago. Most people have had enough and it's cost plenty too. Just make sure he's incarcerated until death so no one has to ever encounter him again. I could live with that judgement.

46 agree
0 disagree

noiseworthy wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:23 PM ETThere were suspicions that others were involved or at least knew but prefered to ignore the signs. I can say with some personal knowlage that the Picton family was a tad unusual. Brother Dave has limited abilities. The sister got out and avoided the brothers. Robert Willy does not operate in the fashion of a normal human being. He is more like a Nazi who functions in his own world. His ideas of right and wrong are not like most people.

He does however, like the attention and enjoys the fuss that is made over him and his crimes. Leave him alone and accept that he is a killer and a nasty creation. You should have known his dad, ech!

24 agree
1 disagree

LeonWalsky wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:08 PM ETAnother example of how those running the province are incompetent and greedy. You want to get him on some first degree charges? Well then, start the SECOND trial so his victims can at least have their day in court. AND continue the chase for the others involved.

I swear law enforcement and the legal system in this province is only good for using tazers and bilking the public legal funds.

3 agree
28 disagree

Sarah77 wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 11:05 PM ETA very interesting play of Law... And I am glad that the Crown is saying they don't want another trial for 1st degree, he is serving the same sentance...

27 agree
1 disagree

Golanbiais wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:46 PM ETWhat if getting a new trial is in the interest of Pickton ?

4 agree
22 disagree

patrickscallen wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:37 PM ETThank you , you answered my question

1 agree
7 disagree

patrickscallen wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:29 PM ET" why torment ,why , let's go on ?

18 agree
2 disagree

Release the hounds wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:23 PM ETI'm not a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon but I have enough common sense to figure out that the greedy lawyers and judges must be feeling the effects of the recession and have to seek more trials to fill their pig troughs with taxpayer money. I would say what I reall think about these low-lifes but it wouldn't get printed. They all belong in jail with Pickton in my opinion!

29 agree
42 disagree

Meggsy wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:15 PM ETwhy don't they go after his accomplice? There were indications that he did not work alone, no?

24 agree
9 disagree

Catchnpitch wrote:Posted 2009/04/08

at 10:11 PM ETLeave him to rot, slowly.

58 agree
2 disagree

Crown says new trial for Pickton wouldn't be in 'interests of justice'

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.

Crown lends legitimacy to alleged suspect discounted at Willie Pickton trial

By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun
April 1, 2009

VANCOUVER — A woman dismissed by prosecutors as a “straw man” during Robert (Willie) Pickton’s trial is being given some legitimacy by the Crown at the serial killers’ appeal hearing.

Dinah Taylor was characterized by the defence as an alternative suspect because her DNA was found on Pickton’s Port Coquitlam farm, some of it near evidence linked to the victims.

At trial, the Crown said Taylor may have helped Pickton pick up sex-trade workers to bring back to his farm, but insisted there was no evidence she was a killer. “Dinah Taylor was the biggest, most sinister straw man that the defence created,” prosecutor Michael Petrie said then.

Fast-forward to the B.C. Court of Appeal, where Pickton’s lawyers are arguing his six second-degree murder convictions should be overturned because the trial judge erred in his final instructions to the jury.

Pickton’s lawyer, Gil McKinnon, said Justice James Williams was wrong, when he told the jury they could find Pickton guilty if he participated in any deaths carried out by someone else, not only if he acted alone.

That was wrong, McKinnon alleged, because until that point in the trial, the Crown had insisted that Pickton had acted alone.

In response, Crown attorney Gregory Fitch said Wednesday that Pickton’s conviction was proper as long as he took part in the killings, regardless of whether he or Taylor or someone else pulled the trigger.

Evidence was introduced in the trial that could allow the jury to make such an inference, Fitch said. He noted Pickton’s close friend Gina Houston testified that Pickton told her Taylor was responsible for “three or four” of the killings.

Taylor was arrested, but not charged, in the missing women case. She was never called to testify at the trial.

During an interview with The Vancouver Sun in 2007, she denied involvement with the deaths.

The defence’s appeal stems from a question the jury asked the trial judge during its deliberations: whether they could find Pickton guilty if he had acted “indirectly.”
The question set off a sequence of events, resulting in Williams amending his instructions to allow a guilty plea if the jury found Pickton was merely a participant in the deaths.

Fitch argued the amendment should have been part of the instructions in the first place, and that prosecutors at the trial were “wrong” not to argue that point before the jury’s question arose.

But there was no miscarriage of justice, he said, so Pickton’s appeal should be dismissed. Fitch is expected to continue his arguments today.

Pickton, who is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 year, is not in court for the appeal hearing.

He was convicted in the deaths of Georgina Papin, Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe and Marnie Frey. Whether he will face a trial on 20 other murder counts depends on the fate of the appeal.

The Crown has filed its own appeal, which will be argued once the defence case is done.

lculbert@vancouversun.com

Click here for more Willie Pickton stories.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Serial killer Willie Pickton's murder convictions should be overturned, lawyer argues

By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun
March 30, 2009 6:51 PM

VANCOUVER - Serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton’s trial “went off the rails” during the jury’s deliberations, and therefore his conviction on six counts of second-degree murder should be overturned, a defence lawyer told the B.C. Court of Appeal on Monday.

It is the constitutional right of any defendant, “no matter how heinous the accusations” against him, to have a fair trial, Pickton’s lawyer, Gil McKinnon, argued during the opening day of the appeal of the high-profile 2007 trial.

Therefore, the former Port Coquitlam pig farmer, who is serving a life sentence for killing six women who disappeared from the Downtown Eastside, should be granted a new trial, McKinnon said.

That request elicited a heavy sigh from one of a dozen relatives who were in the courtroom, where six prosecutors and two defence lawyers will make arguments before three appeal court justices over nine days.

More family members and friends of the six victims, as well as of other women who have vanished from the neighbourhood, chanted, beat drums and called out for justice on the courthouse steps in downtown Vancouver.

Three sisters of Georgina Papin, who disappeared 10 years ago and is one of the women Pickton was convicted of killing, travelled from Edmonton to listen to the appeal.

“Every part of this trial is important, especially for our sister Georgina, and we want to make sure she is represented,” said Cynthia Cardinal. “We’ll live with this for the rest of our lives.”

At the centre of the defence’s appeal is the only question the jury members asked the judge during their nine days of deliberations in December 2007. Although the question was awkwardly worded, the jury appeared to be asking whether they could find Pickton guilty if they determined he had “indirectly” killed one or more of the women.

It is a reasonable interpretation, McKinnon said, to conclude that some members of the jury must have thought someone other than Pickton shot the three victims who died of gunshot wounds and, potentially, killed the other three victims, whose cause of death could not be determined because very little of their remains were found on Pickton’s property.

“One or more members of the jury were having some difficulty with the Crown’s theory that Mr. Pickton was the shooter of the three women and/or the killer of the other three women,” the lawyer told the court.

McKinnon argued that the trial judge, Justice James Williams, made five errors, among them: the way he initially addressed the jurors’ question; changing his mind and creating the “real possibility” that some jurors could conclude Pickton could be convicted for acting as a participant, instead of a sole perpetrator, in the deaths; and giving a charge to the jury that was “incomplete, misleading and wholly inadequate.”

McKinnon alleged the Crown’s theory that Pickton acted alone in the murders never wavered in this case until the jury members asked their question, and then the Crown “backslid” from its previous position to embrace the idea he may have worked with someone else. That, the defence argued, “destroyed the integrity of this trial.”

McKinnon indicated that the Crown, which is expected to start its response to the defence appeal today or Wednesday, will argue it did not change its position.

On Dec. 9, 2007, three days after asking its question, the jury found Pickton not guilty of first-degree murder, but guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder in the deaths of Papin, Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe and Marnie Frey.

The Crown has also filed its own appeal, arguing the trial judge made six errors, including rulings on whether the jury heard certain evidence and severing the charges against Pickton into two trials, one of six counts and the other of 20. The Crown’s appeal will likely be presented next week, once argument in the defence appeal is finished.

Pickton, who is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, was not present in court.

The 50-seat courtroom was packed most of Monday morning with reporters, victims’ supporters, members of the public, and two Missing Women Task Force investigators. The crowd thinned out in the afternoon, as the legal arguments became more technical.

Community activists Bernie Williams and Gladys Radek, who last year walked across Canada to demand a public inquiry in the case, wore distinctive red native robes in the courtroom. Many of the women who disappeared from the Downtown Eastside were aboriginal.

Also in the courtroom were relatives of some of the other 20 women who Pickton is accused of killing. They hope Pickton will face a second trial on those counts, but the Crown has said it will not proceed with that trial if the defence’s appeal bid is unsuccessful.

lculbert@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

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

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