TAXPAYERS MUST PAY FOR DRUG SUSPECT'S DEFENCE

Trial - City Man Facing Weapons And Drug-Trafficking
Charges

If a drug prosecution is to proceed against a Fredericton man,
Canadian taxpayers will be on the hook for the cost of his defence, a
judge ruled Tuesday.

[name redacted], 41, had previously applied to provincial court
to have the attorney general of Canada appoint state-funded defence
counsel.

He's awaiting trial on 22 charges, including trafficking in cocaine
and marijuana, conspiracy to traffic in those drugs, and possession of
restricted and prohibited weapons. The charges allege December 2006
events.

[name redacted] was convicted in 2009 of all 22 counts after a trial and
sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned the decision in 2010,
ordering a new trial and [name redacted]'s release from prison.

He's been denied legal aid for his new trial, and he made what's
called a Rowbotham application, arguing he needs a lawyer appointed by
Ottawa so he can get a fair trial.

Local criminal defence lawyer George Kalinowski argued the motion
before Judge Julian Dickson last month, and on Tuesday, Dickson agreed
the order was necessary to protect [name redacted]'s charter right to a fair
trial.

Technically, a judge can't order the federal attorney general to
appoint and pay for a defence lawyer, but the law allowed Dickson to
issue a conditional stay of the charges until state-funded counsel is
appointed.

Dickson noted [name redacted]s defence will involve charter challenges of
search warrants and wiretap authorizations.

They're complex issues that require legal expertise, the judge said.
[name redacted] recently obtained his high school equivalency during
his stay in
prison.

Dickson said he was impressed with [name redacted]'s testimony at the Rowbotham
hearing in December.

[name redacted] testified he wasn't sure what the charges meant and he wasn't
versed in the intricacies of the law and the criminal process.

The defendant's car-detailing business failed following his conviction
and incarceration following his first trial, and he's on social assistance.

Dickson said while the law doesn't provide that everyone should get
state-funded legal counsel, it should be provided in extreme
circumstances so as to ensure a defendant gets a fair trial.

Dickson said given the seriousness of the charges, the complexity of
the evidence and legal issues, the expectation the trial will last two
to three weeks, [name redacted]'s limited education and the potential for a
lengthy prison term, [name redacted] must have a defence lawyer representing
him.

The charges against [name redacted] stem from Operation Jellybean, a two-year,
joint-forces drug investigation helmed by the RCMP, focusing on the
illegal drug and steroid trade in the Fredericton region.

Dickson noted Court of Queen's Bench Justice Fred Ferguson, in a
decision on another Jellybean-related case, referred to the various
Jellybean prosecutions as "a megafile."

Last year, [name redacted] had sought to pay for his own legal counsel by other
means. He applied to have $113,200 in cash seized from the trunk of a
car on Dec. 16, 2006, as part of Operation Jellybean returned to him,
but the application was denied.

Kalinowski told the court Tuesday it could be several months before
the federal Attorney General's Office appoints defence counsel for
[name redacted].

The [name redacted] case also involves two other co-defendants:
[name2 redacted], his ex-girlfriend with whom he was living at the time, and
[name3 redacted].

The case was adjourned to March 16 to see how things are proceeding
with [name redacted]'s defence counsel.