CATHERINE SOLYOM
montrealgazette.com Ruling disappoints justice minister; will be appealed..
MONTREAL - There may be more prosecutors, more judges, more high-tech courtrooms, even more jurors making more money while they give up their regular jobs to sit in judgment of Quebec's most notorious bikers.
But like it or not, mega-trials are here to stay, the director of criminal prosecutions in Quebec says - as long as there are mega-crimes to prosecute.
Louis Dionne, head of the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, reaffirmed his commitment to the mega-trial model Wednesday as he announced he would appeal a judge's decision to stay the charges against 29 Hells Angels associates arrested in April, 2009, and two others who are still on the lam.
The police investigation known as Operation SharQc netted a total of 155 alleged criminal bikers accused of everything from drug trafficking to first-degree murder. Included among the charges were 22 murders, committed between 1996 and 2001.
But Superior Court Justice James Brunton ruled Tuesday that 31 of them who have not been charged with the more serious crimes of conspiracy to commit murder and murder should instead go free.
Given the few resources at hand, to try them would take until 2023, Brunton wrote - an unreasonable delay that would preclude a fair trial for the accused.
Flanked by two of his chief prosecutors, Dionne said SharQc was not over, however, despite the serious setback. There are still 124 accused bikers who will be tried, beginning as early as next week.
On June 10, two murder trials are set to begin: one, for the trial of 31 alleged members and associates of the Hells Angels Sherbrooke chapter, the other for 22 alleged members of the Quebec chapter.
In the meantime, the prosecutions office is appealing Brunton's decision.
The 31 people in question are higher-ups and "main collaborators" in the Hells Angels organization, he said. To let them go free would have a serious impact on the administration of justice in the province. And contrary to Brunton's characterization, the prosecutions office's plan was not just mega-improvisation, Dionne said.
"From the beginning, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales was aware of the challenge posed by delays and the impact of the trials on the justice system," Dionne explained.
"We believed that all the accused could be tried in a reasonable amount of time."
Though the 31 were not directly charged with the 22 murders in question, the murders were all committed in order to further the drug sales of a single criminal gang, Dionne said - all the crimes were linked.
But Brunton decided to split up the accused according to the severity of charges, calculating for 11 trials altogether, and put the 31 accused only of trafficking and affiliation with a criminal organization on trial last - sometime in 2021.
It will probably be several months before the appeal of Brunton's decision is heard, and in the meantime, prosecutors acknowledged the possibility of new requests for stays of proceedings, given the lengthy delays and piles of evidence lawyers for the accused must read through.
The optics of criminal bikers going free had immediate repercussions, however, in the National Assembly.
Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois blamed Dionne and Liberal Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier for their inaction. Then she set upon Premier Jean Charest's government, and how it has routinely dismissed calls for a public inquiry into Quebec's construction industry.
"For months, the government has been saying it wants to see criminals in prison, not on television. Yesterday what we saw on television was criminals getting out of prison."
Fournier, for his part, called the Brunton decision "a great disappointment."
"We don't agree with this judgment," Fournier told reporters.
"I share the surprise of Quebecers."
But asked whether he thinks police will be able to round up the suspects freed Tuesday, the minister was at a loss for words.
"There is no guarantee at this time and that is part of the surprise of Quebecers," he said. "So we are going to ask the Court of Appeal, and we have already asked, that it make a judgment and clarify all the points that have been raised."
Prosecutor François Brière, at Dionne's side during a news conference Wednesday, said there are other less drastic solutions to the problems posed by the mega-trials, other than letting criminals go free.
The government is pondering raising the amount of money jurors can claim per day of trial, to $103 a day from $90. For trials extending more than nine weeks, jury pay would be $160 a day. And the prosecutions office, if need be, will hire more prosecutors, and make more courtrooms available to get through the mega-trials in a timely fashion.
Christian Leblanc, president of the association of crown prosecutors who were forced back to work after a short strike in February over pay and workloads, said the new investment is urgent, and ultimately it is up to the Charest government, not Dionne, to deliver.
Brunton's decision "serves as a warning to the government to boost financing in the criminal justice system," Leblanc said.
"Often, the government approach is to invest in the investigation side. The SharQc police did great work. The problem is, we don't put in the same amount for the second part of the process - the criminal prosecution."
Leblanc agreed with the government that it wasn't time to abandon mega-trials altogether, however.
"What is the alternative to mega-trials? ... Given organized crime in Quebec, what should the government do? Invest. We held the first mega-trials in Quebec and should be leading the country, but investment has to be made."
Kevin Dougherty of the Gazette Quebec Bureau contributed to this report.
csolyom@montrealgazette.com
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Mega+trials+here+stay+prosecutor/4878194/story.html#ixzz1OGZSSq66
But like it or not, mega-trials are here to stay, the director of criminal prosecutions in Quebec says - as long as there are mega-crimes to prosecute.
Louis Dionne, head of the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, reaffirmed his commitment to the mega-trial model Wednesday as he announced he would appeal a judge's decision to stay the charges against 29 Hells Angels associates arrested in April, 2009, and two others who are still on the lam.
The police investigation known as Operation SharQc netted a total of 155 alleged criminal bikers accused of everything from drug trafficking to first-degree murder. Included among the charges were 22 murders, committed between 1996 and 2001.
But Superior Court Justice James Brunton ruled Tuesday that 31 of them who have not been charged with the more serious crimes of conspiracy to commit murder and murder should instead go free.
Given the few resources at hand, to try them would take until 2023, Brunton wrote - an unreasonable delay that would preclude a fair trial for the accused.
Flanked by two of his chief prosecutors, Dionne said SharQc was not over, however, despite the serious setback. There are still 124 accused bikers who will be tried, beginning as early as next week.
On June 10, two murder trials are set to begin: one, for the trial of 31 alleged members and associates of the Hells Angels Sherbrooke chapter, the other for 22 alleged members of the Quebec chapter.
In the meantime, the prosecutions office is appealing Brunton's decision.
The 31 people in question are higher-ups and "main collaborators" in the Hells Angels organization, he said. To let them go free would have a serious impact on the administration of justice in the province. And contrary to Brunton's characterization, the prosecutions office's plan was not just mega-improvisation, Dionne said.
"From the beginning, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales was aware of the challenge posed by delays and the impact of the trials on the justice system," Dionne explained.
"We believed that all the accused could be tried in a reasonable amount of time."
Though the 31 were not directly charged with the 22 murders in question, the murders were all committed in order to further the drug sales of a single criminal gang, Dionne said - all the crimes were linked.
But Brunton decided to split up the accused according to the severity of charges, calculating for 11 trials altogether, and put the 31 accused only of trafficking and affiliation with a criminal organization on trial last - sometime in 2021.
It will probably be several months before the appeal of Brunton's decision is heard, and in the meantime, prosecutors acknowledged the possibility of new requests for stays of proceedings, given the lengthy delays and piles of evidence lawyers for the accused must read through.
The optics of criminal bikers going free had immediate repercussions, however, in the National Assembly.
Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois blamed Dionne and Liberal Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier for their inaction. Then she set upon Premier Jean Charest's government, and how it has routinely dismissed calls for a public inquiry into Quebec's construction industry.
"For months, the government has been saying it wants to see criminals in prison, not on television. Yesterday what we saw on television was criminals getting out of prison."
Fournier, for his part, called the Brunton decision "a great disappointment."
"We don't agree with this judgment," Fournier told reporters.
"I share the surprise of Quebecers."
But asked whether he thinks police will be able to round up the suspects freed Tuesday, the minister was at a loss for words.
"There is no guarantee at this time and that is part of the surprise of Quebecers," he said. "So we are going to ask the Court of Appeal, and we have already asked, that it make a judgment and clarify all the points that have been raised."
Prosecutor François Brière, at Dionne's side during a news conference Wednesday, said there are other less drastic solutions to the problems posed by the mega-trials, other than letting criminals go free.
The government is pondering raising the amount of money jurors can claim per day of trial, to $103 a day from $90. For trials extending more than nine weeks, jury pay would be $160 a day. And the prosecutions office, if need be, will hire more prosecutors, and make more courtrooms available to get through the mega-trials in a timely fashion.
Christian Leblanc, president of the association of crown prosecutors who were forced back to work after a short strike in February over pay and workloads, said the new investment is urgent, and ultimately it is up to the Charest government, not Dionne, to deliver.
Brunton's decision "serves as a warning to the government to boost financing in the criminal justice system," Leblanc said.
"Often, the government approach is to invest in the investigation side. The SharQc police did great work. The problem is, we don't put in the same amount for the second part of the process - the criminal prosecution."
Leblanc agreed with the government that it wasn't time to abandon mega-trials altogether, however.
"What is the alternative to mega-trials? ... Given organized crime in Quebec, what should the government do? Invest. We held the first mega-trials in Quebec and should be leading the country, but investment has to be made."
Kevin Dougherty of the Gazette Quebec Bureau contributed to this report.
csolyom@montrealgazette.com
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Mega+trials+here+stay+prosecutor/4878194/story.html#ixzz1OGZSSq66
