SUN ARGUES FOR ACCESS AT BALCONY-PLUNGE PROBE

An inquiry into the deaths of two youths who fell from an apartment
balcony during a police drug raid is set to resume in provincial court
today.

A lawyer for the Edmonton Sun is expected to argue before Judge Leo
Wenden this morning on an application by the Sun for access to
exhibits presented at the hearing.

Huu Pham, 15, and Adam Miller, 21, died Sept. 24, 1999, when they
plunged from the fourth-floor balcony at 12925 65 St. to a parking lot
below.

City cops and RCMP were conducting simultaneous raids all over
Edmonton as part of a huge sting operation aimed at an alleged major
drug gang.

Officers had just forced their way into the apartment and set off two
flash-bang devices - one outside the building and one in the suite's
kitchen - when the pair fell.

Pham and Miller were not suspects.

Tom Engel, the lawyer representing Miller's family at the inquiry,
contends a flash-bang played a role in their deaths.

"They're obviously very interested in hearing the witnesses who are
testifying, especially the ones coming up," Engel said last night.

The officer who lobbed a flash-bang in the parking lot during the raid
is slated to testify this week.

"There's going to be a lot more information come out about how they
planned this thing, and the level of force they used," Engel said.