WHY SO MANY CASES FAIL IN WAR ON ANGELS

Quebec Teams Find Success

More than 30 criminal prosecutions of Hells Angels members in B.C.
over the past decade have failed, ending in either acquittals or the
charges being stayed by the Crown, according to a review of court records.

In fact, while police say the Angels are the province's top organized
crime threat, prosecutors failed to secure convictions in more than 60
per cent of the cases -- including allegations of drug trafficking,
extortion and even assaults against police officers.

Attorney General Geoff Plant said his staff are reviewing their own
files to determine if the failure rate is as high as research by the
Vancouver Sun suggests.

"[But] even if the numbers are off by a significant margin, those
figures are troubling," Plant said. "I don't think that the criminal
justice system is well served if acquittal and stay rates are
approaching half of all cases."

Insp. Andy Richards, a biker gang expert with the Combined Forces
Special Enforcement Unit, called the high rate of stays and acquittals
"startling."

"That seems to be more than the norm -- a much higher average than the
general population of accused," he said.

Richards and Bob Paulson, a biker gang expert with the RCMP, said the
high failure rate reflects some challenges inherent in organized crime
cases -- such as witnesses being intimidated and the accused having
well-funded defence teams.

But the two said it also highlights the need for dedicated
organized-crime prosecution teams, which have been successful in
Quebec. "The answer is a team of prosecutors, not unlike Quebec,"
Paulson said. "The assembly of experienced prosecutors who know ...
the particular demands of organized crime prosecutions."

Of the 95 full-patch Hells Angels members in B.C., only one is behind
bars, for beating up a marijuana grower in Kelowna. Two others
convicted of drug trafficking in 2001 are out on bail while appealing
their cases.

In comparison, 67 of Quebec's 115 full-patch Hells Angels members are
either behind bars or on parole.

Quebec changed tactics in the 1990s when the toll from a bikers' turf
war reached more than 150 lives, some of them innocent bystanders. A
special police biker squad was set up, later replaced by regional
squads throughout the province.

The next key move came in 2000 when the province established a
dedicated team of prosecutors to work exclusively on organized crime
cases -- the first team of its kind in Canada.

More than 25 provincial Crown prosecutors were freed from normal
duties to join an existing team of 15 prosecutors who handle
proceeds-of-crime cases. In comparison, B.C. has one provincial Crown
prosecutor dedicated to organized crime.

But the biggest change is the way in which prosecutors and police now
work together, said Randall Richmond, Quebec's deputy chief prosecutor
for organized crime. In Quebec, like B.C., police do not have the
power to lay criminal charges. Instead, police provide a report to
Crown counsel, who decide if charges should be laid.

Sometimes, prosecutors would have concerns about whether the evidence
collected by police was strong enough to gain a conviction.

But by then, it was usually too late.

"Once someone's arrested, then the cover is blown," Richmond said.
"The police investigation becomes known and it becomes difficult to
gather more evidence at that point."

Under the new system, a prosecutor is assigned to a police
investigation as soon as it begins and can ensure police gather
different types of evidence, especially when they need to corroborate
the stories of witnesses who may be criminals themselves with
credibility problems in front of a jury or judge.

"If a prosecutor knows that he's going to be pleading the case in
court, he's going to be even more careful about decisions that are
made during the investigation," Richmond said.

Increasingly, those charged with crimes are pleading guilty after
seeing the strength of the Crown's case.

"The results since the creation of the organized-crime prosecution
bureau have been quite remarkable," Richmond said.

Yet despite Quebec's many successes, B.C. still seems a long way from
adopting a similar model.

Plant said he's willing to consider setting up prosecution teams on an
ad hoc basis for major investigations -- such as was done for the Air
India and missing women cases -- rather than establish a permanent
team for organized crime. "I think that is a better way to organize a
prosecution service than to have a standing unit sitting around doing
nothing except waiting for the files to come in."

Plant also said he doesn't think there is a need to hire more
prosecutors, as was done in Quebec.

"The justice system has enough prosecutors to deal with the range of
crime," he said. "I spend more time thinking about how we can make the
justice system operate more efficiently."

Hells Angels spokesman Rick Ciarniello said the lack of convictions
indicate that police and prosecutors unfairly go after members of his
club, often with weak cases.

"The fact is it doesn't take much to lay a charge against a Hells
Angel," he said. "It's a form of intimidation."

A review of court records and newspaper databases identified 53
criminal cases against full-patch members of the Angels since 1994,
not including those still before the courts.

Of those, only 20 ended in convictions on at least some of the
charges.

The vast majority of failed cases -- 28 of the 33 -- were the result
of all charges being dropped by the prosecutor before the trial was
finished, in what is known as a stay of proceedings.

The list of failed cases includes many minor criminal charges, such as
common assault and simple drug possession.

But an analysis of the 28 most serious cases -- including drug
trafficking, uttering death threats and extortion -- still found a
high failure rate of 50 per cent, with 14 convictions, one acquittal
and 13 cases stayed.

Among those cases dropped were charges of extortion after the key
witness -- the owner of a Richmond seafood company -- refused to
return from his native Japan to testify.

"The reality is a lot of cases get stayed because they haven't come
through the way we thought they would," said Bob Prior, director of
prosecutions in Vancouver for the federal Department of Justice.

Prior also said cases can be stayed for reasons other than a weak
case, such as fear that a confidential informant could be identified
if the case proceeds.

Police and prosecutors say one of the biggest weaknesses of organized
crime cases is the witnesses -- both those intimidated out of
testifying and those too unsavoury to be believed.

Meanwhile in Quebec, the realization that Hells Angels are not
untouchable by the courts has encouraged people to come forward, said
Sgt. Richard Bourdon, of the special police biker squad. "We receive
more information from the public now than we ever received before."