Pubdate: Fri, 15 Feb 2008
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Neal Hall

NO PROOF HELLS ANGEL DEALT COCAINE, DEFENCE ARGUES

Case A Test Of The Anti-Gang Law Being Applied Against Group In B.C.

VANCOUVER - If the evidence doesn't fit, a judge must acquit a senior
East End Hells Angels member accused of being involved with two
alleged associates in cocaine trafficking, a defence lawyer argued
Thursday.

"The Crown has presented no evidence of what Giles actually did,"
Richard Fowler said of the charges against his client, David Francis
Giles, 58, a Hells Angels member for more than 20 years.

"What cogent evidence is there that he's engaged in criminal
activity?" he asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie.

After a 10-month trial, the prosecution has offered no evidence to
prove Giles ever possessed or controlled nine kilograms of cocaine
seized by police in Kelowna in 2005, Fowler said.

"In this case, there's no evidence of who supplied the cocaine. There
is no evidence that he paid for the cocaine," he added.

Fowler suggested the Crown has taken evidence and moulded it to fit
its theory that Giles was involved in a "joint venture" with two
co-accused in possessing the cocaine for trafficking.

"But it's ill-fitting," he said of the Crown evidence.

Giles is accused of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking
"for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a
criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels."

The trial is a test case of the anti-gang law being applied against
the Hells Angels in B.C.

Also on trial are alleged Hells Angels associates David Roger Revell,
43, and Richard Andrew Rempel, 24, who are accused of cocaine
trafficking and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in
association with a criminal organization -- the Hells Angels.

In April 2005, police seized nine kilograms of cocaine over a two-day
period: three kilograms from a storage locker in the Kelowna area,
five kilograms the next day from a secret compartment in a car kept on
a used car lot in Kelowna, and another kilo seized from a drug
dealer's car leaving the car lot.

Police also found about 400 grams of cocaine on the car lot, where
Rempel worked. The lot was allegedly operated by Revell, who also
operated a local gym and a restaurant.

The Crown, during four days of final arguments, played a number of
recordings of intercepted phone calls and outlined a flurry of
BlackBerry e-mails allegedly exchanged between Revell and Rempel after
the cocaine was seized from the storage locker and police were
checking the car containing the cocaine.

Police also installed covert listening devices in Giles' Kelowna-area
home and in the Hells Angels clubhouse in Kelowna.

The Crown contends Vancouver's East End Hells Angels were expanding
into Kelowna, where they wanted to establish a new chapter and take
control of the lucrative illicit drug market.

In one conversation in Giles' home on May 2, 2005, the biker is heard 
discussing the
seized cocaine and telling Revell: "We'll get back up."

The Crown suggested that is evidence both men are involved in the
cocaine seizures and that they further discussed how much money they
owed for the drugs.

But Fowler argued the quality of the recording was so poor that the
words attributed to Giles were not clear. "Nor is it clear Giles is
talking at that point," he added, suggested there may be someone else
in the room other than Revell and Giles.

Fowler went over a number of phone calls to show Giles was not
directing or controlling Revell and Rempel.

The lawyer suggested Giles and Revell were simply friends who often
discussed things over the phone and in person. Police surveillance
observed Giles and Revell meeting outside a Kelowna gym called Reflex
on April 6.

The eight-minute meeting occurred as police were seizing the car
containing the five kilograms of cocaine.

What might have been discussed at that meeting is simply speculation,
Fowler said, adding the judge should be cautious in making inferences
not based on a foundation of fact.

The lawyer pointed out that during a wiretap conversation on May 2,
2005 between Giles and Revell, they discussed the loss of eight
kilograms of cocaine, which he said indicates only that Giles had
knowledge of the cocaine, but was not controlling or directing Revell
or the drugs.

"You have to be extremely careful about relying on after-the-fact
conversations to infer knowledge," Fowler told the judge.

The judge pointed out that Giles was heard saying in the Kelowna
clubhouse: "I deal in drugs." But Fowler said the comment must be
viewed in its context -- Giles was discussing what police believe.
"He's relaying what he's been told [by police]," he added.

The defence lawyers will continue their final arguments today at the
Vancouver Law Courts.

A total of 18 men were arrested. A number of trials are pending.
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