CRIMINALS LET FREE TO AWAIT TRIAL

Hundreds of violent criminals, drug traffickers and thieves facing new
charges are walking Vancouver's streets because judges refuse to jail them
before trial.

Frustrated Vancouver police officers call this a "revolving-door" syndrome
that is clogging provincial courts, wasting police resources and shaking
public confidence in the justice system.

B.C. provincial court Chief Judge Robert Metzger acknowledged Friday that
some people are being released on bail who should be jailed because his
courts are overburdened.

"It's not like Law & Order on television, where they only handle one case,"
Metzger said. "It's very onerous for these judges, who can face dealing
with between 40 and 200 cases in a day. Judges are people just like you and
me."

But police complain that even career criminals with a history of violence
are not being held in custody when facing more charges.

They cite the case of 41-year-old Wesley Lizotte, a career criminal with 82
convictions dating back 25 years for everything from assaulting a police
officer to theft and drug trafficking. Lizotte is on probation for cocaine
trafficking, faces multiple drug charges and is wanted in Ontario for
assault and failing to appear in court.

Despite his record, Judge Kerry Smith released Lizotte on Aug. 24 without
conditions after he had been arrested on his fourth breach of a court order
prohibiting him from an area where he had been previously arrested for
selling drugs.

In court transcripts, Smith said he was astounded that Lizotte would have
been released following a previous drug-trafficking charge.

"But, never mind, you were. I don't think I would have released you," the
judge said. "But, you know, I actually believe we should treat people
fairly; even people with long, long criminal records like yours."

He then released Lizotte on an undertaking to appear.

Lizotte's case is just one of several that officers listed in a report to
the city's police board this week that accuses judges of allowing criminals
back on the street within hours of arrest.

Metzger said he can't comment on Lizotte's case, but is aware police and
politicians perceive the court system is soft on criminals.

In June, the chief judge met with a dozen Lower Mainland mayors, including
Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen, to hear their complaints. And he says he
welcomes the creation of a community-based Court Watch program in which
volunteers will observe judges' decisions with a view towards offering
constructive criticism.

On Friday, Owen harshly condemned the provincial court, describing
Vancouver as a haven for criminals who know the courts will treat them with
leniency.

Owen wholeheartedly supports Court Watch, which is being funded by the city
through seven community policing centres. The mayor said it's time judges
start listening to city residents.

"We are paying their salaries. They should be listening to the community,"
Owen said. "The judges don't like us to go in this direction, but I'm
saying the citizens have had it."

Metzger was taken aback at the mayor's tough language, saying Owen did not
express those views in their summer meeting.

"I am a little bit surprised by his strong language," the chief judge said.
"It is not an accurate assessment. Judges are not free to do what they
want. They must obey the Criminal Code, which says that everybody must be
released unless the Crown can produce enough evidence to show why they
should remain in jail."

But Lizotte's case is not the only one Inspector Chris Beach cited when he
addressed the police board Wednesday, arguing that "convicted drug
traffickers do not appear to be deterred by the light sentencing received
by the provincial courts."

"As a police department we are only one component of the criminal justice
system," he continued. "We respect that each component has its own set of
problems and restrictions, but we have become increasingly frustrated with
decisions being made at the provincial court level."

Beach recounted another case before Judge Smith last November. In
sentencing 31-year-old Hon Meng Lee for heroin possession, Smith began by
acknowledging the extent of the drug problem in the city.

"Mr. Meng, on August the 12th the police caught you in possession of some
heroin in this part of our city, which means you were caught committing a
crime that hundreds, probably thousands were committing . . . around here
on that date," the judge said.

Smith then sentenced Meng to one day in jail in addition to the three
months he had already served in custody awaiting trial.

Police also highlighted a case before Judge C. L. Bagnall in July in which
the Crown sought to have 18-year-old Teresa Lynn Tattersall held in jail
after she failed to appear in court twice and was arrested five times for
breaching bail conditions that prohibited her from being on Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

"I'm reluctant to detain you," the judge said. "You should be detained,
it's probably a travesty for me not to detain you, but you're 18 years old."

The young woman was released on the condition that she report to her bail
supervisor and attend substance-abuse counselling.

Owen told of an incident last year in which a man facing a seven-to 10-year
sentence for heroin trafficking pleaded guilty in Edmonton but opted to be
sentenced in Vancouver. The mayor said the man received only a $2,000 fine
in Vancouver provincial court.

Constable Anne Drennan, Vancouver police's media liaison officer, said
senior officers, including acting chief Terry Bligh, met with federal
department of justice officials two weeks ago to ask why career criminals
continue to be released without conditions.

"The response from the department of justice people are that it was in the
hands of the judiciary," Drennan said.