OFF THE WIRE
torontosun.com
Lengthy delays in getting a biker mega-trial off the ground prompted a judge to set 31 reputed Hells Angels free on Tuesday.
Superior Court Justice James Brunton said it has taken too long for 31 of the 137 defendants to face justice. The bikers were arrested two years ago in Project Sharqc, a massive sweep that crippled the outlaw biker gang's operations in Eastern Canada.
Defence lawyers in the current case had accused the Crown of "abuse of procedures, impossibility of mounting a defence, unreasonable delays and illegality."
The remaining suspects face charges including first-degree murder, gangsterism, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder.
The defendants will be prosecuted in groups of eight or nine. The trial could last as long as two years in a specially built courthouse in north-end Montreal.
Quebec has dealt with the growing number of biker busts by prosecuting defendants en masse to save money and streamline complicated cases.
