Judge offers to cut holiday short to hold trial of two pharmacists
By Peggy Revell on November 30, 2017.
prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell Caught between witnesses testifying by videoconference and the constitutional right to a timely trial, a local judge said he’ll rearrange his schedule in April if needed to run the trial of two Medicine Hat pharmacists charged with fraud and theft over $5,000. This came as the specialized prosecutor for economic crime out of Calgary appeared before the Medicine Hat court Wednesday, requesting that videoconferencing appearances for some witnesses be allowed during the trial for Kathryn Keiser and Evan King currently set for Jan. 22-30. The Crown told the court that one witness, a pharmaceutical rep, had booked a Hawaii vacation from Dec. 29 to March 1 before subpoenas were sent out. It would cost more than $3,500 for the person to travel back here for the trial. This witness, the Crown said, would have information on how certain pharmaceutical incentives work, conversations with the accused, and possibly be able to identify transactions. While the Crown doesn’t have to call the witness, they said they think defence may want to cross-examine him. Unlike Calgary, the Medicine Hat courthouse doesn’t have technology such as document readers or split screens that make it easy for witnesses to follow along with documents presented in court. The Crown proposed sending a copy of the exhibit with the witness so they would have it on hand. The Crown is also looking to have other witnesses not in this region of Canada testify by videoconference. Defence counsel objected to the requests, with local lawyer Robert Robbenhaar saying he hadn’t received any detailed information on why witnesses couldn’t attend, and Sara Lewans raising concerns about the Internet connection and security. the location the person would testify at, and other unanswered questions. Both said the extensive documents and complexity of evidence are why they don’t want videoconferencing used. As well, they noted the one witness’s vacation date was known before the trial date was set. “If this were just a matter of him standing up and testifying and being 1,2,3,4 … (but) I’m concerned we have a complex fraud case with documents making up the case,” said Judge Ted Fisher, saying he didn’t want to adjourn midtrial if problems arose. Pushing back the trial brings into play the Supreme Court of Canada’s Jordan decision. According to this ruling, “unreasonable delay” for court proceedings is more than 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in superior court. Delays made by defence counsel aren’t counted toward this. In this case, defence counsel could apply to have charges thrown out due to “unreasonable delay” in May. To solve this, Judge Fisher offered to fit the trial into unbooked time he had available in April, and have the decision written before May. An adjournment was granted to Dec. 5 to confirm more details before a trial date decision is made. Keiser and King were arrested alongside a third pharmacist, Robert Stadnyck, over allegations they received rebates and incentive payments to the sum of $1.6 million directly through negotiating drug purchases. All three worked at pharmacies owned by the Medicine Hat Co-op (now known as South Country Co-op), and have since had their employment terminated. Stadnyk’s trial is set for Mar. 26-29, and April 5 and 6. 17
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