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It’s not the first time former Hells Angel Michael Clairoux beat a drug rap down at the Elgin Street courthouse.
But this was different, this was a big joint-police force investigation targeting an Ontario Hells Angels drug trafficking ring that yielded more than 20 arrests — including two federal prison employees.
Last week, the case against its chief target — 43-year-old Michael Clairoux — fell apart after his defence lawyer, Diane Condo, won a stay in a successful motion for unreasonable delay — 37 months — because it took too long to get to trial.
“It’s been a very long and difficult time for my client, and he’s happy to have his life back,” Condo said.
The Crown had already dropped proceeds of crime and possession charges against Clairoux and an associate before their marijuana trafficking charges were dropped last week in Ottawa’s latest stay under the delay-to-trial Jordan ruling.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips said the case started out unusually slow when it hit court and spun its wheels for 10 months, with a lot of judicial pre-trial meetings in an uncomplicated case.
The federal Crown’s office wanted all the accused to be tried by the same judge even though they were selling different drugs in different cities at different times, the judge noted in his ruling to stay the charges.
The federal prosecutors set about having a case-management judge assigned and, for whatever reason, that took three months.
Clairoux was arrested on Feb. 25, 2015. The federal Crown’s initial disclosure of evidence was given to the defence on April 17, 2015. Full disclosure of all defence requests was handed over on Aug.14, 2015.
The Crown argued that the bulk of the delay between the assignment of a case-management judge and the time allowed to set a preliminary inquiry should be laid at the feet of the defence.
But the judge didn’t entirely agree and questioned the Crown attorney’s request for a case-management judge in the first place.
The judge failed to see why the cases needed to be presented as a mega-trial, let alone why they should all be tried by the same judge.
The Crown also argued that going with one judge for all would make it easier to decide sentencing ranges for all, if they were convicted.
The judge, a former Ontario Crown attorney, said the federal prosecutor’s arguments were valid but not compelling.
“The offences alleged involve the trafficking of marijuana, hardly a novel or hard-to-grasp scenario.”
The judge said the request by the Crown for a case-management judge created a delay.
“It is always harder to get time before a judge than any judge,” Phillips said.
The judge said the bottom line is that the simple case moved at a snail’s pace and breached Clairoux’s right to a timely trial.
In this case, the prosecution was stayed in part because of bureaucratic delays.
“The Crown set up a case management system that was both unnecessary and ill-suited for the task at hand and stuck with it rather than bringing applications under the sections of the Code meant to accelerate the pace toward committal to stand trial in the Superior Court,” Phillips ruled.
The judge had one more thing to consider before staying the drug trafficking charges against Clairoux.
In an affidavit filed in court, Clairoux said his bail conditions for the past two years have been gruelling.
In order to get bail, the now-free Clairoux was required to live under strict conditions with a surety in Ottawa public housing.
“There is mold in my bedroom and the mold is so bad that I have respiratory issues that include me having to use an inhaler. … My surety has complained about this problem to Ottawa Housing. … It has not been fixed to date. In addition, when it rains, my bedroom in the basement floods,” the former Hells Angel wrote in an August affidavit filed in court.
“I have overwhelming feelings of doom and persecution as I return to the room,” wrote Clairoux, who went on to say that while his bail conditions were aggravating his mental health issues, they were way better than jail.
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But this was different, this was a big joint-police force investigation targeting an Ontario Hells Angels drug trafficking ring that yielded more than 20 arrests — including two federal prison employees.
Last week, the case against its chief target — 43-year-old Michael Clairoux — fell apart after his defence lawyer, Diane Condo, won a stay in a successful motion for unreasonable delay — 37 months — because it took too long to get to trial.
“It’s been a very long and difficult time for my client, and he’s happy to have his life back,” Condo said.
The Crown had already dropped proceeds of crime and possession charges against Clairoux and an associate before their marijuana trafficking charges were dropped last week in Ottawa’s latest stay under the delay-to-trial Jordan ruling.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips said the case started out unusually slow when it hit court and spun its wheels for 10 months, with a lot of judicial pre-trial meetings in an uncomplicated case.
The federal Crown’s office wanted all the accused to be tried by the same judge even though they were selling different drugs in different cities at different times, the judge noted in his ruling to stay the charges.
The federal prosecutors set about having a case-management judge assigned and, for whatever reason, that took three months.
Clairoux was arrested on Feb. 25, 2015. The federal Crown’s initial disclosure of evidence was given to the defence on April 17, 2015. Full disclosure of all defence requests was handed over on Aug.14, 2015.
The Crown argued that the bulk of the delay between the assignment of a case-management judge and the time allowed to set a preliminary inquiry should be laid at the feet of the defence.
But the judge didn’t entirely agree and questioned the Crown attorney’s request for a case-management judge in the first place.
The judge failed to see why the cases needed to be presented as a mega-trial, let alone why they should all be tried by the same judge.
The Crown also argued that going with one judge for all would make it easier to decide sentencing ranges for all, if they were convicted.
The judge, a former Ontario Crown attorney, said the federal prosecutor’s arguments were valid but not compelling.
“The offences alleged involve the trafficking of marijuana, hardly a novel or hard-to-grasp scenario.”
The judge said the request by the Crown for a case-management judge created a delay.
“It is always harder to get time before a judge than any judge,” Phillips said.
The judge said the bottom line is that the simple case moved at a snail’s pace and breached Clairoux’s right to a timely trial.
In this case, the prosecution was stayed in part because of bureaucratic delays.
“The Crown set up a case management system that was both unnecessary and ill-suited for the task at hand and stuck with it rather than bringing applications under the sections of the Code meant to accelerate the pace toward committal to stand trial in the Superior Court,” Phillips ruled.
The judge had one more thing to consider before staying the drug trafficking charges against Clairoux.
In an affidavit filed in court, Clairoux said his bail conditions for the past two years have been gruelling.
In order to get bail, the now-free Clairoux was required to live under strict conditions with a surety in Ottawa public housing.
“There is mold in my bedroom and the mold is so bad that I have respiratory issues that include me having to use an inhaler. … My surety has complained about this problem to Ottawa Housing. … It has not been fixed to date. In addition, when it rains, my bedroom in the basement floods,” the former Hells Angel wrote in an August affidavit filed in court.
“I have overwhelming feelings of doom and persecution as I return to the room,” wrote Clairoux, who went on to say that while his bail conditions were aggravating his mental health issues, they were way better than jail.
www.twitter.com/crimegarden
查看原文...
