Crown prosecution is worried a man facing charges related to a marijuana grow operation will be a no-show when his trial rolls around.
A B.C. Supreme Court Justice will hear an application on Dec. 16 to issue a warrant to arrest Evan Iovko Jones, 24.
A trial for Jones was scheduled to begin on that date before a judge alone but was cancelled Monday, after the court heard his lawyer has withdrawn from the case because he had lost contact with the accused.
In fact, Jones had not appeared in court for over a year although his lawyer was still able to continue to advance the case through the legal process, the court was told.
Jones, who is from the Lower Mainland, was arrested in May 2012 after North District RCMP's integrated marijuana enforcement task force seized 678 marijuana plants in various stages of growth from a West Lake Road home.
In January 2013, a warrant for the arrest of Yovko Ivanov Djitlarsky, 47, was issued after he failed to make a first appearance on the matter.
Both face one count each of possession of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and fraudulent consumption of electricity.
