HUGE GANG TRIALS A GIANT BUST

$36M Wasted As Prosecutors, Police Buried By Paperwork

EDMONTON - Federal prosecutors have finally abandoned two massive gang
trials 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
40 defendants in the related cases, the largest in Alberta's history.

Over the years, charges against some of the accused were stayed.
Others pleaded guilty to reduced charges. All the accused were
originally to be tried together but in 2001 the charges were split
into two trials to speed things up.

Even so, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Doreen Sulyma tossed out
charges against 11 accused last September in her trial because it had
not taken place within a reasonable amount of time, a requirement
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," Smart said. "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.

Prosecutors will also 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.

Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said his department will draft
amendments that will cut paperwork by clarifying what core information
should be given to the defence.

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

That worries Sanjeev Anand, a University of Alberta law professor and
former 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 huge trials, meant to test new legislation that makes
it illegal for anyone to be part of a gang, have collapsed in Winnipeg
and Montreal. A judge in the Winnipeg case of the Manitoba Warriors
gang recommended trials should not exceed eight accused.

Anand said the Crown should prosecute a handful of people where they
have the strongest evidence, and get stiff sentences that send a
message to the community.

Right now, he said, gang members and drug traffickers out on the
streets are laughing at the government. They're not afraid of going to
trial.

One of the biggest obstacles in the case would have been finding a
jury to sit for one to two years and follow the complexities of the
trial, said defence lawyer Marvin Bloos.

The case was supposed to land before a jury sometime this year, but it
got bogged down with more than 200 pre-trial motions, the bulk of them
dealing with disclosure of evidence.

Prosecutors first tried to organize the case by storing all evidence
on computer CDs. But the accused did not have enough access to
computers in the Edmonton Remand Centre. Eventually everything was
transferred to paper -- seven million pieces of it.

"It was unwieldy, beyond human capability," said defence lawyer Naeem
Rauf.

There was so much paperwork that the RCMP lost track of 38 boxes of
documents; 36 were later found in their own office and two were
located in the home basement of one of the investigating officers.

"It's just a disaster," said defence lawyer Tom Engel.

He said he's most concerned with the accused who spent six months to
two years in custody at the Edmonton Remand Centre before getting
bail. They currently have an application

before the courts protesting the harsh living conditions in the
centre, which has been described as the worst corrections facility in
the country.

The case's $36-million tab includes police, prosecution and court
costs, but the bulk went to fees for defence lawyers. A judge ordered
the federal government to pay them $150 an hour for up to 70 hours a
week to work on the case. Over five years, it added up to $23.7 million.

Defence lawyer Hersh Wolch said the case called for a massive amount
of work. Many senior lawyers actually took cuts in pay and others had
to dedicate their entire practice to the one case. "I don't think any
of the defence got anywhere close to rich on this," he said.

GANG TRIAL CHRONOLOGY

- - Sept. 24, 1999: 68 people and companies are charged in raids in
Edmonton and other parts of Alberta over an alleged cocaine
trafficking gang; two men die when they fall from a fourth-floor
apartment balcony during one raid.

- - March 2000: The province announces construction of a high-security,
high-tech, super-courtroom in the basement of the Edmonton law courts
building to handle the massive gang trial for about 40 of the accused.

- - Oct. 20, 2000: With 11 people still unable to hire legal help, Court
of Queen's Bench Justice Mel Binder orders the federal government to
pay lawyers $150 an hour for up to 70 hours a week to work on the case.

- - February 2001: A hearing starts before Justice Richard Marceau into
complaints by some accused over harsh conditions at the Edmonton
Remand Centre. At issue are poor food and ventilation, mistreatment by
guards, lack of medical attention and unsanitary clothing.

- - March 2001: The prosecution moves to simplify proceedings by
dropping charges against some of the accused and splitting the case
into two trials. Justice Binder handles charges against nine men.
Justice Doreen Sulyma starts a separate trial for 21 people in the
basement super-courtroom.

- - March-June 2003: Arguments are heard over whether the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms was violated by undue delay of the trial.

- - Sept. 8, 2003: Sulyma accepts the defence's delay argument, staying
charges against 11 people remaining in her trial; proceedings continue
for the eight men still in the Binder hearing.

- - Oct. 6, 2003: The Crown appeals Sulyma's decision.

- - Feb. 27, 2004: The Crown withdraws its appeal and stays all charges
against the remaining eight accused in the second trial, putting an
end to the case.

BY THE NUMBERS

THE CASE

- - 68 people and companies charged

- - about 40 accused were to be in one massive trial

- - 24 pleaded guilty to reduced charges

- - four were deported

THE PRICE-TAG

- - $23.7 million in defence legal fees

- - $5.6 million in federal prosecution costs

- - $2.6 million for the RCMP and city police investigation

- - $2 million for the police to prepare for trial

- - $2.1 for the province to build a 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 in several different
languages

- - up to 600 potential witnesses