Don’t retry Pickton, Crown says

By Shannon Kari, National Post

March 17, 2010 4:27 AM

The jury in the Robert Pickton trial was entitled to find him guilty whether it concluded he was the sole killer of sex trade workers or the “head honcho” of a “murderous joint venture” the Crown argues in documents filed with the Supreme Court of Canada.

Any legal errors made by the judge should not entitle Pickton to a new trial, state Crown counsel in written arguments for the March 25 hearing.

The evidence against Pickton is “overwhelming” that he was “at the centre of this inhuman scheme to murder and dismember vulnerable women from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver,” the Crown writes. “Ordering a new trial in this case, where conviction is inevitable, would only serve to detract from society’s perception of fairness and the proper administration of justice,” it adds.

Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder by a British Columbia Supreme Court jury in December 2007, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years. He is facing another 20 counts of first-degree murder, which the B.C. government says it will prosecute if a new trial is ordered for Pickton on the other six murder charges.

The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the six murder convictions, in a 2-1 decision released last year. The split decision entitled Pickton to appeal his case to the Supreme Court.

The central issue in the appeal is an instruction given by Justice James Williams to the jury on its sixth day of deliberation. The jury asked if Pickton could be convicted of murder if it concluded he “indirectly” took part in the murder of any of the women.

The question resulted in heated discussions between Crown and defence counsel and Judge Williams outside the presence of the jury. The judge reminded the prosecution it agreed to the original jury instructions that it had to find Pickton to be the “actual shooter” to find him guilty of murder.

When the jury was called back into court, the judge told them he made a mistake and explained that if Pickton “actively participated” in the murders he could be convicted.

The written arguments filed in the Supreme Court by Pickton’s lawyers argue that the “goal posts” were moved by this decision, giving the Crown an unfair advantage.

In response, the appeal lawyers representing the B.C. Crown criticize the judge, the defence and even decisions made by their own prosecution colleagues during the trial.

“The Crown was wrong to agree to the actual shooter” instruction, write Gregory Fitch and John Gordon, on behalf of the appeals branch of the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney-General.

Judge Williams made many rulings, including a decision to separate the 26 counts into two trials, which were “unduly favourable” to Pickton, the Crown states. The decision to tell the jury that Pickton could be convicted if he “actively participated” was simply correcting a legal mistake, it adds.

The Crown arguments also suggest there is “considerable” evidence that the killings of the women were a “joint venture” led by Pickton. The Crown points to a police statement by Pickton where he called himself the “head honcho” and said that others were involved.

No one else has been prosecuted in the deaths of the 26 women and during the 2007 trial the Crown said “the same person” caused the deaths of each of those victims.

National Post

skari@nationalpost.com

© Copyright (c) National Post

Courtesy of the Vancouver Sun

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RCMP to recommend six more murder charges against Robert Pickton

Police will ask B.C. Crown prosecutors to move ahead although appeal on conviction of six second-degree murder charges will not be heard until March.

Robert Matas

Vancouver — Globe and Mail Update Published on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 1:56PM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 2:31PM EDT

The RCMP intends to recommend six additional murder charges against convicted killer Robert Pickton, RCMP spokesperson Corporal Annie Linteau says.

In a surprising development in the sensational murder case, Cpl. Linteau said this morning that the RCMP intends to ask B.C. Crown prosecutors to move ahead with more charges against Mr. Pickton although the appeal on his conviction of six second-degree murder charges will not be heard until next March. Crown prosecutors have said they will not consider other charges until the appeal has been resolved.

“Even though we have been informed by the Crown, verbally, that they would not be proceeding with the six [new] charges . . . we are still sending a report to crown counsel to complete the process. We still have a responsibility to fully investigate these cases and send the Crown all the information,” Cpl. Linteau said.

“Of course, we are fully aware and cognizant of what Crown said publicly,” she added.

“But by not sending that information [to Crown prosecutors], it could leave us, the police, unprepared and Crown [prosecutors] not fully informed, should further trials be required.”

The new charges to be recommended by the police would be for the alleged first degree-murder of the following six women:

- Yvonne Boen, who was 33 years old when she was last seen on March 16 or 17, 2001;

- Sharon Abraham, who was 35 when last seen when last seen in December, 2000;

- Dawn Crey, when was 42 when last seen on November 1, 2000;

- Jacqueline Murdock, who was 26 when last seen when last seen on August 14, 1997;

- Stephanie Lane, who was 20 when last seen on January 19, 1997;

- Nancy Clarke, who was 25 when last seen on August 22, 1991;

Cpl. Linteau said the DNA of the six women was located on the farm. The women were associated with Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, were involved in prostitution and were dependent on alcohol or drugs.

She added that the decision to lay criminal charges in B.C. is made by Crown prosecutors, not by police. The recommendation to lay charges has not yet been sent, she also said. She did not know when the RCMP report would be sent.

Gil McKinnon, Mr. Pickton's lawyer in his appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, refused to comment.

Peter Wilson, Mr. Pickton's trial lawyer, was not available this morning for an interview.

Mr. Pickton was convicted of second-degree murder of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Marnie Frey, Brenda Wolfe and Georgina Papin. The women disappeared between 1997 and 2001. Mr. Pickton is also charged with the murder of 20 additional women.

Crown prosecutors have said they will not proceed with the 20 additional charges if Mr. Pickton's conviction is upheld at the Supreme Court.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rcmp-to-recommend-six-more-murder-charges-against-robert-pickton/article1344004/

Judge's actions left door open for appeal. Pickton Appeal

Lots of people make mistakes at work, but judges are rarely subjected to disciplinary measures no matter what the cost of their errors


By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun
June 29, 2009

We all make mistakes; we're only human. But we expect more of some people in our society -- judges, for one.

The bar must be set higher for them since the consequences of their decisions have more serious effects on people's lives and the public purse than most others.

And what we especially don't expect is that they will make such glaring errors that a serial killer's conviction could be overturned or that their decision is so off-base that both the Crown and defence appeal.

But that's what B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams did. Because of his errors, Robert "Willie" Pickton will get a hearing in the Supreme Court of Canada and a chance for a retrial.

This is a sorry chapter in Canada's biggest mass murder trial -- a grisly, sordid case.

One of three Court of Appeal justices who reviewed the case said Williams' mistake in his charge to the jury was inexcusable. Judge Ian Donald said Williams failed to properly instruct jurors on the law of aiding and abetting a crime and how it might apply in this case.

"This was an error of law," Donald wrote in his dissenting opinion. "The failure to instruct created a miscarriage of justice."

That's not the only mistake Williams made. All three appellate court judges said Williams was wrong to sever six of the 26 cases for trial.

That decision's legacy is that 20 families of murdered women may never get the justice they seek unless the Supreme Court orders a retrial.

Throughout the trial, the judge reportedly did a number of unusual things. After week 23, a story in The Globe and Mail noted Williams' "unusual state-of-the-nation address" to the jury when -- among other things -- he gave them a two-week vacation during the 11 months of hearings.

Another unprecedented decision was to have his law clerk, robed and sitting close by him in court. It apparently didn't help any.

Although this was one of the biggest trials in Canadian history, Williams was a relative rookie with only three years experience on the bench.

He took over the Pickton case a few days into the pre-trial hearings after the other judge suddenly found he had a scheduling conflict.

However, he'd had big-trial experience from the other side. He was a prosecutor in the case of Reena Virk, a Victoria teen who was beaten and killed by two other teens. He was defence lawyer for hockey star Marty McSorley, who was charged with the on-ice assault on former Canucks player Donald Brashear.

Judges are not oracles, as Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada has said. Instead, they are men and women with legal training, appointed and well-paid to sit in judgment until they are 75 years old.

But unlike most people who mess up at work, they are rarely subject to disciplinary measures.

"In fairness, the conduct of a judge should not be measured in the context of a complaint arising out of a single proceeding, but rather against a wider test of performance."

That's what former B.C. Court of Appeal chief justice Allan McEachern said in a speech given while he was chairman of the Canadian Judicial Council.

He noted the difficulties of disciplining judges. Appointed either by the provincial or federal government, they can only be removed by the government.

Still McEachern argued against anything short of removal or anything more severe than review by judicial councils, which are limited (in his words) to expressing disapproval in words that range from "unfortunate," "unwise," "inappropriate," or "in some very few cases, something stronger."

Anything in between -- suspensions or sanctions -- would undermine the authority of the court and judge's independence, he said.

But from the beginning, almost everything about the Pickton case has undermined people's faith in the judicial system.

The victims were women who had no faith in the protection of police or courts. Survival sex workers and drug addicts rarely get a fair hearing from them.

The families can't help but distrust a system so callous that it took years before anyone would even take their reports of missing mothers, daughters and sisters.

That fact that Williams chose to hear only six of 26 cases only further damaged what little trust some had that justice might ever be done.

I'm sure Justice Williams is sorry for his mistake. And maybe I can even accept that public humiliation is as good a punishment as any.

But it's absurd to think that disciplining him-- even removing him from the bench -- would make things worse.

dbramham@vancouversun.com

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