Judge backs conviction of truck thief

A man will face sentencing for leading police on a chase in a stolen pickup truck after a Prince George provincial court judge dismissed his application to have the convictions stayed because of the time it took to bring the case to trial.

By judge Michael Gray's count, Jonathan Kyle Relkey, 31, had to wait 11-and-a-half months for the case to be heard and while that's greater than the ideal time of eight to 10 months, he found it was still not unreasonable.

In reaching the decision, Gray relied in part on a B.C. Supreme Court decision that found 16 months was the "border for matters to proceed without unreasonable delay."

The incident occurred on Oct. 27, 2012, but Gray used the date of the arraignment hearing, Feb. 20, 2013, as the starting point for his calculation, saying the interim amounted to "inherent time" required to get the matter to that stage.

A trial had been set to start Sept. 23, 2013, but was postponed due to a lack of court resources. And when the same thing occurred the next day a new trial notice was issued.

The next dates offered for the trial were Dec. 27, 30 and 31, 2013, but they were rejected by defence counsel while those of Feb. 21, 24 and 28, 2014, were turned down by the Crown prosecutor.

The case was eventually heard in March and that same month Gray found Relkey guilty of trying to evade police while driving a stolen pickup truck carrying two industrial heaters stolen from a local business. The incident began on Highway 16 near the Bon Voyage plaza and ended with the driver missing the corner at Marleau Road near Westgate Mall and sliding into the ditch and with the police vehicle sliding into the pickup.

Adding to the danger, the court heard, it was a busy Sunday morning and the road was covered in compact snow.

While it took 12-and-a-half months for the case to reach trial, Gray reduced that total by one month. He said the two-month delay between late December 2012 and late February 2013 should be counted as one month because the inherent time it takes to coordinate schedules.

Relkey had also contended the inability to hold the trial during the two dates in September 2013 posed a hardship because he had to come to Prince George from Surrey, where he was at a treatment centre while out on bail.

Gray agreed, noting the delay interrupted the program which Relkey was paying for and had the trial been completed, he perhaps would have been able to get his driver's license back by the end of the month and resume employment.

But Gray also noted new charges against Relkey were brought forward in Surrey in mid-November, unrelated to those he faced in Prince George, and he had remained in custody since then.

A date for sentencing Relkey on the Prince George charges is to be set.