Canada, Taxpayers foot $1.8M legal aid bill for Hells Angels

OFF THE WIRE
Canada,
MONTREAL – Quebec taxpayers have dished out $1.8 million in the past 18 months for Hells Angels bikers charged with murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism.
The province’s legal services agency released the numbers in its annual report this week. It shows that Quebecers paid the amounts for lawyers in private practice, mainly to defend bikers arrested in Project SharcQc
The April 2009 police operation dealt a crippling blow to the Hells Angels in Eastern Canada. A total of 133 suspects face charges, including first-degree murder, gangsterism, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder. They’ll be tried en masse to cut down on the number of legal proceedings.
Others who hired defence lawyers on the public purse included drug traffickers on Quebec’s north shore who were eventually convicted in a two-year-long mega-trial in Quebec City. The defence lawyers in that case billed the government for extra hours given the length and complexity of the case.
But Quebec has now stepped in to cap the amount of legal aid that gangsters can claim at taxpayers’ expense during mega-trials.
Last month the Charest Liberals quietly amended the legal aid laws to limit a lawyer’s half-day rate to $400.
By comparison, lawyers for Hells Angels who were tried en masse following a 2001 biker bust billed taxpayers up to $900 for a half-day of work.
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