VIETNAMESE INTERPRETER'S CLAIMS OF ABUSE BY CROWN MAY CRASH MARATHON
DRUG-TRAFFICKING TRIAL

EDMONTON -- One of the longest criminal trials in Alberta's history
could fall apart following a legal tug-of-war over a Vietnamese
interpreter.

The drug trafficking trial of Tranh Ke Lam and Brian Trieu, scheduled
to begin its 125th day in court Monday, has been running in courtroom
412 in Court of Queen's Bench since Sept. 7, 2004.

A special cushion sits on the hard wooden bench in the prisoner's box
for the accused. One of the defence lawyers, Kevin Moore, developed a
bad back from sitting for so long and recently received permission
from Justice Brian Burrows to stand during the proceedings. A
makeshift witness box has taken the place where a jury would normally
sit, to accommodate many court documents.

The Crown, which wrapped up its case last week, has submitted 452
exhibits that include documents, drugs, weapons and 490 wire-tapped
phone calls totalling 20 hours of conversation.

The Crown's alleged treatment of an interpreter translating calls
recorded in Vietnamese has led the defence to ask the judge to toss
the entire case out of court due to an abuse of process.

Moore and Gregory Lazin have filed a motion claiming the Vietnamese
interpreter they hired to analyse the accuracy of RCMP transcripts
quit during the trial because of the Crown.

Kevin Bui, employed for court cases on a contract basis by the federal
Crown for the last 13 years, was first hired for the defence in this
case, although the Crown later tried to hire him during the trial.

Three days after Bui provided a different interpretation of one of the
recorded calls on behalf of the defence, he received a letter from the
federal Crown's office that his contract would not be renewed in the
future.

"I believe that this action by the federal Crown is tied to my
assistance to the defence," Bui wrote in an affidavit filed in court.
He said he quit working for the defence, hoping the Crown's office
would hire him again. The Crown is the primary employer of a small
pool of Vietnamese interpreters in the city, he said.

Last week, Burrows granted the defence permission to subpoena the
director of federal prosecutions, Wes Smart, to testify about his
decision not to again hire Bui. The motion was scheduled to be argued
in court Monday, but it is likely to be postponed, said Moore. The
trial is set to wrap up in mid-July.

Lam, 51, and Trieu, 39, were arrested in March 2001, following a
massive police investigation into an Asian-based crime gang and its
cocaine business.