A three-day trial for a Prince George firefighter at the time of his arrest who is alleged to have been part of an extensive theft ring was postponed Wednesday after his lawyer opted to have the matter moved to B.C. Supreme Court.
Representing Jeremy Matthew Kostyshyn, lawyer Patrick Fagan made the move in Prince George provincial court after two of the nine counts his client is facing were upgraded to the more serious charge of trafficking in stolen property from possession of stolen property over $5,000.
The new charges were sworn in on Monday and Fagan, who is based in Calgary, said he only learned of the changes early Tuesday afternoon.
It was the second false start for the matter, which was originally set for trial in June but postponed when provincial court judge Dan Weatherly declined to hear the case when he learned one of the witnesses is a friend, raising a concern he would be in a conflict of interest.
Even before Weatherly decided he was in a conflict, the trial almost went off the rails. Fagan argued the three trafficking charges should be quashed because the specific property and their owners were not included in the charge. The dates for which the offences were alleged to have been committed were too broad, Fagan also argued.
Weatherly declined Fagan's application but requested the charges be amended to include the specific items. Crown counsel did so and, in the process, also included the names of the property's owners in two of the charges.
Weatherly said he recognized one of the names and noted he went to high school with the man and excused himself from hearing the trial.
In mid-November Crown prosecutor Marie Louise Ahrens took over the case from Lorne Phipps. Ahrens told the court Wednesday that on the day the case was transferred to her, she had a letter sent to Fagan informing him she was now in conduct of the matter.
When she received no response from Fagan, "as the British Columbia Law Society would have required," Ahrens said she had another letter written a week later asking for a meeting to discuss the matter and once again received no response.
Ahrens said that as she was writing a third letter on Monday, Fagan contacted her by phone to discuss the matter.
Ahrens went on to say the new information did not materially differ from the original one.
But after the charges were read out in court on Wednesday, now with the names of all properties' owners, Fagan noted two of the charges were now for trafficking rather than possession, which also differed from the charges itemized on the court docket.
After reelecting to have the trial heard in B.C. Supreme Court, Fagan asked for two weeks to decide if there should first be a preliminary inquiry. But after some discussion, he backed away from the position and said a preliminary inquiry will not be required.
The date is still to be fixed for the trial in B.C. Supreme Court, which will be heard by judge alone.
Fagan also gave notice that he will be seeking relief under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a result of the delay in bringing the matter to trial.
Fagan did not tell the court why he wanted the matter raised to Supreme Court and, when asked by The Citizen after the hearing, declined to elaborate, citing client-solicitor privilege.
As it now stands, Kostyshyn faces five counts of trafficking involving an excavator,a boat and trailer, a loader and two flat deck trailers and four counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000 involving a boat and trailer, an all-terrain vehicle, an unspecified item and two snowmobiles.
Another related case also remains before the court. Two days of testimony have been heard so far for Benjamin Taffy Williams, accused of possessing a stolen jet boat which he told police he bought from Kostyshyn. That trial is set to resume in March.
Williams was also a Prince George Fire Rescue firefighter at the time of his arrest.
When news of the investigation was first announced in May 2013, the city suspended a firefighter without pay and launched an internal review. The name of the person suspended has not been released.
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