Pubdate: Thu, 02 Nov 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun

JUDGE LETS ADMITTED KILLER OFF HOOK

Crown Prejudiced a Potential Witness, Dope Dealer's Lawyer Says

A dope dealer who admitted he killed his drug boss had a murder 
charge against him stayed in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday.

It was a case of second-time-lucky for Anton Hooites-Meursing, who 
says he shot gangster John Lahn three years ago in self-defence. 
Earlier this year, a mistrial was declared after a jury said it could 
not reach a verdict.

Justice Mary Humphries ordered the charge stayed after 
Hooites-Meursing's lawyer Jim Heller argued the prosecutor in the 
case had behaved inappropriately by visiting a potential witness in 
jail and telling him what defence witnesses in the first trial had 
testified about him.

Humphries did not provide her reasons for the stay Wednesday, but 
said they would be released today.

She dismissed members of the jury Wednesday afternoon and thanked 
them for their patience as they waited on stand-by for weeks for voir 
dire arguments to conclude.

"I can tell you your service is not required as the trial is not 
going ahead," Humphries said.

Hooites-Meursing stood up and asked to address the judge.

"I just want to say thank you very much for treating me very fairly 
throughout this whole ordeal," said Hooites-Meursing, a large, 
imposing 35-year-old.

Heller said outside court that he applied for the stay after learning 
on the eve of the second trial that the Crown had made its visit to a 
potential witness and described defence testimony from the first trial.

"The Crown advised me that they had visited a guy with a very serious 
violent criminal history in custody and they had told him that 
defence witnesses had testified against him, that he had mutilated 
and tortured them in the past and this was all completely relevant to 
my client's defence," Heller explained. "The Crown just went and not 
only told him these guys had testified, but had given a letter to 
that effect. It was inaccurate and it was explosively dangerous and 
it potentially put my client and his witnesses in harm's way."

Heller said he was planning on arguing for a second time that 
Hooites-Meursing feared for his life when he shot Lahn, a long-time 
gang leader with a string of convictions. The defence planned to call 
some of the same witnesses from the first trial, who testified they 
had been beaten and threatened by some of Lahn's associates.

"It all goes into this explanation as to why he was afraid of the 
drug dealer he worked for that he ultimately shot," Heller said.

"My client, he has been in custody for three years now on a murder 
charge where he had a very unusual but a very substantial 
self-defence argument." Heller said he does not know which parts of 
his argument were accepted by Humphries, who was also the judge who 
presided over the jury trial that ended with January's mistrial.

Stanley Low, who speaks for the province's Crown prosecutors, said 
Wednesday that he could not comment in depth on the case until the 
judge's reasons for the stay have been released.

"Once we receive the judge's decision, we will conduct a 
comprehensive review," Low said. "We have 30 days to initiate an 
appeal. The Crown prosecutors who had conduct of this trial are very 
senior and well-respected trial counsel. They enjoy the full support 
and confidence of the criminal justice branch, as well as the police 
agency involved in this case."

Heller said it is highly unusual for a judge to stay a murder charge.

But he said what is not unusual is the "the kind of unstated 
principle -- it is a convention --that you simply don't tell a 
prospective witness what other witnesses have testified to."

"You don't give them transcripts. You don't give them summaries," said Heller.

He said his client will not be released from jail just yet because he 
has smaller charges to deal with.

During his first trial, Hooites-Meursing testified that he shot Lahn, 
but only because Lahn was reaching for a gun.

Prosecutors rejected the self-defence argument, saying that the 
drug-peddling duo had a falling out before the shooting and 
Hooites-Meursing was upset after being insulted in public by Lahn.

Lahn, who also went by the first name Jean-Guy, was gunned down on 
Oct. 21, 2003 in a mini-mall parking lot, near the intersection of 
Sixth Street and 10th Avenue in Burnaby.

Though Lahn was only 24 when he died, he had already lived a life on the edge.

He was a member of a major house-invasion gang and had been a close 
associate of many high-profile gangsters, including Bal Buttar, who 
was paralysed in a 2001 attempt on his life.
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