DRUG TRIAL HEARS CRIES OF MAN BEING BEATEN

A drug trial involving a Hells Angels member heard a disturbing audio
recording Wednesday that involved a man being beaten.

The recording was played by defence lawyer Don Morrison, who is
representing the accused, Nima Ghavami, 23, who is on trial for
trafficking methamphetamine.

Also on trial is Ronaldo Lising, a member of Vancouver's East End
chapter of the Hells Angels. He is charged with possession of
methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.

Morrison played the recording, where the cries of the man being
beaten, Glen Louie, could be heard.

The lawyer suggested to the Crown's star witness, Michael Plante, that
he took part in the beating in North Vancouver while he was working as
a police agent with the RCMP.

Plante admitted he was present but said he didn't take part in the
beating. He said he grabbed Louie and he fell, so Plante pretended to
wrestle with him to save him from further blows, although he recalled
Louie was kicked after he fell.

He said Louie was beaten by the other two people he was with,
including Jonathan Sal Bryce, the son of East End chapter president
John Bryce.

He said the beating was done at the direction of the Hells Angels, but
didn't elaborate.

Plante also recalled he was at Brandi's strip club in Vancouver on
Oct. 16, 2004, with a number of targets of the police investigation
when he got into two fights, both of which he lost.

Plante, 39, has testified that he signed a deal with the RCMP in June
2004 that they would pay him $1 million if he helped police infiltrate
the East End chapter of the Hells Angels and testify at the trials
arising from any charges.

He said he received his first lump-sum payment of $500,000 in June
2005, after 18 men, including a number of Hells Angels, were arrested
and charged with a variety of offences. He said he will receive the
second lump-sum payment after all the trials are over.

He testified he was paid up to $14,000 a month by the RCMP, plus
expenses, which included him being reimbursed for B.C Lions football
tickets and six tickets to see comedian Jerry Seinfeld, which were
never used. Plante said the Seinfeld tickets were left at the bar at
the Hells Angels clubhouse.

He said he was recruited as a police agent by the RCMP after he was
arrested for an extortion in July 2003. He had previously worked as
hired "muscle" for the Hells Angels in collecting debts, he said.

The witness also said he told police in 2004 that Ghavami -- who at
the time was working as a doorman at the Cecil Hotel strip club along
with Plante -- wasn't involved in any criminal activity, although he
eventually became a target and was charged.

Plante said he thought police had "tunnel vision" and that officers
wouldn't listen to him about Ghavami.

"So Mr. Ghavami is collateral damage?" Morrison asked the
witness.

"I tried to keep him out of it," replied Plante.

The trial continues today at the Vancouver Law Courts.