PROSECUTORS AT LAST GIVE UP ON MEGA-TRIAL

Massive gang trial cost $36 million and never saw a jury

EDMONTON -- Federal prosecutors have abandoned their final efforts to
proceed with Edmonton's massive gang trial, which cost $36 million over
nearly five years but never made it before a jury.

Justice and police officials said Friday they were not prepared for the
staggering amount of paperwork that had to be disclosed to about three dozen
defendants in the case, the largest in Alberta's history.

Over the years, charges against some of the accused were stayed. Others
pleaded guilty to reduced charges. In 2001, the case was split into two
trials to speed things up.

But last September, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Doreen Sulyma tossed out
charges against 11 accused in her trial because it had not taken place
within a reasonable amount of time, a licence guaranteed under the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.

On Friday, the Crown formally dropped its appeal of Sulyma's decision and
stayed all charges against the eight accused in the second trial, putting an
end to the entire case.

"It is not in the public's interest to pursue this matter further," Wes
Smart, director of federal prosecutions, said at a press conference. "At the
outset, it may not have been appreciated the magnitude of it, how much paper
might become relevant -- the procedures in the early part of the case may
not have been the best. But we've learned a lot."

Rod Knecht, RCMP chief superintendent at Edmonton's K Division, said
investigators involved in such complex cases must now take case-management
training.

Crown prosecutors have also been trained to be more organized and prepared
when it comes to the disclosure of documents right from the start of big
cases, said Don Beardall, anti-organized crime co-ordinator for the
department of justice.

He said despite the cost, time and complexity, the Crown will continue to
prosecute organized-crime cases -- no matter the size.

"We are prepared today to deal with cases of this magnitude," said Knecht.

That worries Sanjeev Anand, a University of Alberta law professor and former
Crown prosecutor.

"It seems to me they just don't get it," Anand said. "There's enough
incidents out there with problems with these mega-trials."

In recent years, similar mega-trials meant to test new legislation making it
illegal for anyone to be part of a gang have collapsed in Winnipeg and
Montreal.

How It Developed

Edmonton's gang trial by the numbers:

The case:

- - 40 defendants

- - 24 accused pleaded guilty to reduced charges

- - Four accused were deported from Canada

The price tag:

- - $23.7 million in defence legal fees

- - $5.6 million in federal prosecutor costs

- - $4.6-million RCMP and city police investigation and preparing for trial

- - $2.1-million new super courtroom to hold 40 prisoners

- - Total $36 million

The evidence:

- - 180,000 pages of documents for each accused = 7.2 million pieces of paper

- - 400 cassette tapes with 280,000 conversations

- - 38 boxes of material were misplaced by the RCMP

- - Up to 600 potential witnesses