BILINGUAL ANGLOS HARD TO FIND IN GRANBY

Search For Jurors Delays Drug Trial

Wanted: Three bilingual anglophones from the Granby area to serve on
a drug trial jury.
Will cover transportation costs.

Seems like such a simple request, especially in a province like
Quebec, but it's proving to be a Herculean task that has delayed a
trial for months and frustrated defence lawyers.

"It's wild, it's insane," said Daniel Lighter, one of eight defence
lawyers on the case. "It's not like you can fly them in."

Hundreds of potential jurors, chosen at random from the electoral
list, have shown up at the Granby courthouse since March, only to be
rejected for not having a good enough grasp of both French and
English. Quebec Superior Court Justice Yves Tardif has ordered that
the trial - of a group of 14 people charged with trafficking, growing
and exporting marijuana - be bilingual.

That means six of the 12 jurors must have French as their mother
tongue and six must have English. The requirement applies to two
reserve jurors, as well.

"We've gone through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of panels,"
Lighter said in an interview yesterday.

"We've managed to get francophones, because the pool in Granby is so
much bigger."

As for anglophones: "It's getting to the bottom of the
barrel."

Robert Rouleau, the crown prosecutor in the case, could not be reached
for comment.

The court will take another shot at finding the elusive jurors today,
to fill the three remaining anglophone spots on the jury.

Lighter said he argued that the trial, based on a recent judgment by
Superior Court Justice James Brunton, should be held in the language
of the accused. That way, two trials could be held. (The accused -
initially a group of about 40 - have already been divided into two
groups, based on the crimes with which they are charged.

But Tardif disagreed, and "now has to find 12 bilingual people in a
jurisdiction that is primarily francophone," Lighter said.

In most trials, it takes a week at most to choose a jury. Lighter said
some of the accused, who were charged two years ago, have opted to
plead guilty.

"Some are from Ontario and are tired of going back and forth," he
said, adding they are now down to about 10 accused.

Lawyers and the judge will sift through another 300 or so potential
jurors today.

Lighter said other factors, such as commitments at work or school, can
also be a reason for exemption.

And since the trial is expected to last three months, farmers, who
make up a large proportion of the area's population, say they cannot
leave their fields and animals for that long.

Then there are always the potential jurors who claim to know the
accused from the town of Bedford.

"You shop in my town, you're my butcher, I see you in the post office
all the time," Lighter said, adding that the butcher and a post office
employee are among the accused.

"It's a small town, so a lot of them know each other."