WARRIORS CASE ENDS WITH A WHIMPER

Organized-crime charge dropped; 12 plead guilty to drug counts

MANITOBA'S most expensive trial came to an abrupt end yesterday when 12
alleged Manitoba Warriors pleaded guilty to drug charges.

It was over when the Crown agreed to drop the new federal organized-crime
charge for which a multimillion-dollar courthouse was built in Fort Garry.

The sudden guilty pleas by the alleged street-gang members ended a 20-month
legal saga and set off a new wave of controversy in a case that failed to
live up to its billing as Canada's first test of tough new anti-gang
legislation.

"Anyone want to buy a courthouse?" Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh said
yesterday after the resolution of the trial.

"We now have a facility which is useless. It is, in every sense, a white
elephant. This obviously was not a good investment."

Mackintosh refused to comment on the specifics of the case, but denied his
government put any pressure on the Crown to resolve it as quickly as
possible due to escalating costs and growing public resentment.

Nearly $4 million was spent by the previous Tory government to renovate the
former Fort Garry seed warehouse for the trial, which began last fall with
35 accused.

However, the court never served its purpose because a judge ruled a jury
could reasonably handle a trial of only about eight accused and planned to
break the main trial in half had it proceeded.

The provincial government is studying what to do with the courthouse and is
considering several options, including selling it, renovating it to become
a smaller courthouse, or using it as an archives building.

Tory justice critic Darren Praznik defended the high-security courthouse,
saying his party had to build it in case the trial was allowed to proceed
as planned.

"There are legitimate questions about it, but we did not have the space to
deal with a large, multi-defendant trial," he said, adding the building
could still be used for future criminal cases.

"It's only a white elephant if they make it one," he said.

Taxpayers have a total of $9.5 million invested in the case, including
legal aid fees, security and the courthouse renovations. The federal
government has chipped in with about $1.5 million and Manitoba taxpayers
picked up the rest.

If it had gone to a jury, the entire trial was expected to cost in the
range of $20 million and last another year. Jury selection would have been
a nightmare, as lawyers worried how they would find 12 people who could
sacrifice their livelihoods for that length of time.

Next week, the 12 accused who pleaded guilty yesterday will be sentenced on
charges of possessing and peddling cocaine in inner-city hotels.

To date, 22 others have pleaded guilty to drug charges and their sentences
have ranged from time in custody to six years in prison.

However, only two of the alleged gang members pleaded guilty to the
criminal-organization charge. One accused remains before the courts.

Crown attorney Bob Morrison refused to say why the Crown agreed to end the
landmark trial yesterday by backing off the anti-gang charge, which made
the case the focus of legal eyes across Canada.

When the accused were arrested in November 1998 by dozens of police in
Operation Northern Snow, it was viewed as a much-needed crackdown against
the growing problem of street gangs after several high-profile murders and
other violent crimes.

However, none of the accused in the Warriors case was charged with a crime
of violence.

"This was not the appropriate case on which to test gang legislation," said
lawyer Darren Sawchuk, who represented two of the accused.

"The law was designed for highly sophisticated criminal organizations like
the Hells Angels and Rock Machine, who were killing each other in Quebec.
The Manitoba Warriors fall nowhere near that category."

It carries a maximum 14-year sentence for people involved in a criminal
organization of five or more people.

The Warriors number about 300 in Manitoba but have tentacles in Ontario,
Saskatchewan and Alberta.

A Justice Department spokesman said there would be no comment on the case
until sentencing is completed next week.

The abrupt plea bargains yesterday came on the heels of three weeks of
intense negotiations between the Crown and defence lawyers.

In May, a Queen's Bench judge had tried to mediate discussions, but only
two of the accused pleaded guilty.

Sawchuk said the recent developments came after both sides agreed to
compromise.

"Neither side is happy with the deal, and there is no clear-cut winner
here," he said. "You will see that during some of the sentencing
submissions next week."

Some of the accused have already struck deals with the Crown for an agreed
sentence, while others will let a judge decide their punishment.

Defence lawyer Barry Sinder said there is a sense of relief among the
alleged Warriors, who have been in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre
since their arrest.

"This whole process has presented frustration to everyone involved, and now
the accused can get on with their lives," Sinder said.

"They have accepted responsibility and are pleading guilty based on their
assessment of the evidence against them."

Their case has been bogged down in legal wrangling and delays ever since it
began, prompting a series of outbursts and confrontations between the
accused and justice officials. Allegations of racism have been made by the
accused, who believed they were being held as political prisoners because
they were denied bail.

The case has rarely been in court for more than a few days at a time, and a
Free Press analysis earlier this year revealed only 11 hours of court time
were used over a six-week period.

Alleged gang members in Quebec and Alberta have been also charged under the
federal law and are awaiting trial.

The upcoming mass trial of an Asian drug gang in Edmonton under the
gang-busting legislation has already been condemned by legal experts as a
waste of money.