The three men accused of fatally shooting B.C. gangster Jonathan Bacon in broad daylight six years ago appeared in a Kelowna courtroom Monday to face a list of murder and attempted murder charges.
The first order of business for Jujhar Khun-Khun, Jason McBride and Michael Jones, however, was to attempt to have all charges thrown out.
Their lawyers entered an application to dismiss charges based on the Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year in R. v. Jordan, which set out a new framework for analyzing a violation of the Charter.
To get the matter to trial was above the 30-month threshold established in the Jordan case for trials in Superior Court, which means the Crown will be required to show exceptional circumstances to rebut the presumption that the delay was unreasonable.
The details of much of this application will be dealt with throughout this week and a decision is expected to be rendered by Friday or early next week.
At that point it will be clear whether Khun Khun, McBride and Jones will be sitting for the lengthy trial which they are each charged with one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder and numerous gun charges.
The three men were all present for Monday’s proceedings. Khun Kuhn appeared via a video link to the prison he’s being held due to health issues, while McBride and Jones were behind bullet proof glass that was installed in the last year, seemingly in anticipation of this trial.
The court’s newly installed metal detector was also put into use.
Bacon, a Red Scorpion gang member, was shot to death outside the Delta Grand Hotel on Aug. 14, 2011. In his vehicle during the attack were Larry Amero, a Hells Angel, James Riach, of the Independent Soldiers, and two women. One of the women, Leah Hadden-Watts , was paralyzed in the incident. The other remains unnamed.
The trio were arrested in 2013.