Sentencing for a man convicted of knowingly buying a stolen jet boat and trailer will occur after a provincial court judge dismissed Monday an application to reopen the case to hear new evidence.
Judge Reginald Harris found the information would not have made a difference to his June 12 decision to find Benjamin Taffy Llywelyn Williams guilty of possession of stolen property over $5,000.
Following the decision to convict Williams, his lawyer, Peter Wilson, applied to have the trial reopened based on affidavits from three people related to whether an ignition was in the boat when he first made the purchase.
The jet boat's owner had testified he found no ignition in place when the items were returned to him.
In the first affidavit, a colleague of Williams said he saw a newspaper story on the conviction and then recalled seeing the ignition in the boat shortly after the purchase.
In the second, another said he tracked down the man who subsequently purchased the boat after it was returned to the original owner and found it had an ignition but no key.
And in the third, another said the boat's ignition was replaced with another one while he and the new owner were preparing for a hunting trip because they were unable to locate the key. He also said he was a fully qualified mechanic and the ignition he first found in the boat was "pristine" and had come from the factory.
Harris declined to admit the first affidavit on the basis that with "minimal diligence" the evidence could have been produced at trial. He said the second and third affidavits could be admitted but found they would not have changed the outcome.
Harris said several other factors were taken into consideration in reaching his conclusion and even if the Crown's evidence on the ignition was excluded, Williams was still guilty.
Williams was a member of Prince George Fire Rescue at the time of his arrest on May 1, 2013 and the court heard during the trial he bought the items at a steep discount from a fellow firefighter, Jeremy Kostyshyn.
Last week, Kostyshyn was found not guilty of several charges after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale found the Crown did not prove beyond reasonable doubt he knew the items he was selling to fellow firefighters were stolen.
After charges were laid against him in May 2013, Kostyshyn was first suspended with pay, then days later without. Four months later, he was dismissed from the department, the court had heard.
It's not clear if Williams still works at PGFR. Both the city and the Prince George Fire Fighters Union Local 1372 have declined to comment, citing privacy issues.
Harris delivered his latest decision via teleconference from the Lower Mainland. Wilson was in the same courtroom as Harris while Williams did not attend either venue.
A date for sentencing has not yet been set.
- with files from Samantha Wright-Allen
