Canada - Attemped murder charges dropped in outlaw biker death investigation

OFF THE WIRE
 Lesie Greenwood still facing other first degree murder charges
TRURO - Charges against one of the accused in the murder investigation of outlaw biker Randy Mersereau have been dropped by the Crown.

Crown Attorney Shauna MacDonald made the unexpected announcement in provincial court in Truro this morning that two charges against Leslie Greenwood would not be proceeding.

Greenwood was charged last December with the attempted murder of Mersereau in the 1999 bombing of a Bible Hill car dealership and with being an accessory after the fact in Mersereau's death for allegedly knowing he had been murdered by Hells Angel Jeffrey Lynds and for helping Lynds escape custody.

He is also charged in the Windsor jurisdiction with first-degree murder in the September 2000 deaths of Mersereau's brother Barry and his common-law wife Nancy Christensen.

Greenwood remains in custody on those charges.

Outside the courtroom, after the charges had been dropped and Greenwood had been placed back in the holding cells, MacDonald said the ongoing criminal investigation in which five individuals are facing related charges prevented her from going into details.

“We have numerous accused and numerous charges involved in this operation and an investigation ongoing so I can’t comment a lot,” she said. “But we’ve had to do an assessment of when and where the best place to call evidence is in order to ensure accountability for everybody involved and at this time we felt it appropriate to withdraw these charges against Mr. Greenwood, bearing in mind he still stands charged with two first degree murder charges out of the Windsor jurisdiction.”

Defenc e lawyer Al Begin said he too was surprised about the Crown’s change of heart when he was informed earlier in the week of the pending move.

"I don't understand it. I was very surprised when they told me...," he said. "The Crown usually does that when there is no likelihood of conviction and people (have) got to remember that they (the accused) are innocent until proven guilty."

But he added that the move is not because of any arrangement worked out between the two sides.

"First of all, I just want to put a stop to the rumour mill," he said, "there are no deals between Les Greenwood and the Crown."

Greenwood, who appeared in a buoyant mood during the brief hearing, smiled and mouthed something to someone in the audience as he was led back to cells.

http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/2011-06-16/article-2589944/Attemped-murder-charges-dropped-in-outlaw-biker-death-investigation/1