The three men accused of fatally shooting Abbotsford 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 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 section 11(b) violations of the charter.
To get the matter to trial was above the 30-month threshold established in Jordan for cases 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 are under a publication ban, though 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 go to trial, each facing one charge of murder, four counts of attempted murder and numerous gun offences.
The three men were all present for Monday’s proceedings. Due to health issues, Khun-Kuhn appeared via a video link from the prison where he’s being held, while McBride and Jones were behind bulletproof glass that was installed in the courtroom 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 from Abbotsford, was shot to death outside a busy tourist destination, 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 charged in 2013.