Pubdate: Sat, 18 Apr 2009
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Laura Payton

RULING IN GATINEAU DRUG CASE COULD SET LEGAL PRECEDENT

Judge To Consider Request For Separate Trials For Anglophone, 
Francophone Defendants

A high-profile Gatineau drug case could break new legal ground if a 
judge agrees to try anglophone and francophone defendants separately 
- -- less than a year after Parliament made it easier for judges to 
order a single, bilingual proceeding.

The case involves a woman and 13 men, including Ottawa restaurateur 
Nino Pollastrini, all accused of drug crimes in the same case. 
Several of the defendants are requesting a trial in English rather 
than the bilingual court proceedings they've had so far. The 
participants' lawyers will argue the motion in front of a judge on April 30.

A successful motion would require two separate trials -- one for the 
English-speakers and another for the French -- rather than one 
proceeding for all of the accused.

Sylvain Petitclerc, the Crown prosecutor in the case, disagrees with 
presenting evidence twice. "It's not a good thing for the 
administration of justice," he said

"It's the same judge, the same circumstances. They're co-accused. 
It's one file."

Pollastrini's lawyer wouldn't say whether he was unhappy with the 
bilingual proceedings so far.

"That's beside the point. He's entitled to a trial in English," said 
Louis Belleau.

The accused were among 51 people arrested in a Surete du Quebec bust 
known as Project Croisiere last November. Charges range from drug 
trafficking and possession to gangsterism.

This could be the first time a defendant has asked not to be tried 
bilingually since the Criminal Code was changed last year, said a 
University of Ottawa expert in language rights. Until then, requests 
for trials in either official language were granted almost 
automatically, he said, but Crown lawyers ran into trouble 
prosecuting some cases.

"So the Criminal Code was modified to make it easier for the judge to 
order a bilingual trial," said law professor Pierre Foucher.

But the Criminal Code also says the judge has to give some precedence 
to the right to a trial in your own language, Foucher said. "It's in 
his discretion, really."

The judge will also consider the languages spoken by witnesses, and 
the language of written or recorded evidence.

"Is it necessary ... that (a witness) hears what the other says so 
you can't contradict them with one or the other versions? There's a 
strategy in the decision to hold a joint trial with co-accused rather 
than separate trials," said Foucher.

In a Supreme Court case involving language rights, the justices 
reasoned that the defendants' right to a trial in their own language 
isn't a matter of having a fair trial, but of respecting Canadian 
language rights.

"The principle should be a trial in your own language and the 
exception should be a bilingual trial," said Foucher. "But ... we're 
starting to live with the possibility of having more bilingual trials."
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