Defence lawyers give pushback on human trafficking disclosure
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on May 13, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com Lawyers representing several individuals charged in a human trafficking case continue to express concern over delays in receiving disclosure from the Crown’s office, and the shape it’s in when they finally receive it.Calgary lawyer Kaysi Fagan, who represents accused Mohammad Zafari, said Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court that she requires at least six more weeks to continue going over a significant amount of disclosure she said is difficult to understand because it does not follow any logical order.
“The matter in which the disclosure is provided in this case is causing significant delays,” Fagan said “It is largely unorganized, unsearchable; there is no table of contents, there is no index; many files are not properly labelled.”
Fagan said she was granted a six-week adjournment following her last court appearance in March, and afterward she was instructed by the Crown to return the problematic disclosure. However, the Crown “redisclosed” some of the existing disclosure, and sent additional disclosure, as well.
“So what we’ve received since the last appearance is now, by my count, over 22,000 pages of disclosure, along with approximately 95 hours of media.”
Fagan said the Crown advised there was more disclosure available earlier this week, but there was “nothing there for us” when a courier was sent to pick up the documents.
“To be clear, if this was properly labelled, if this disclosure was accessible and permitted for a meaningful review…then I wouldn’t need as much time, but I’m in the unfortunate position of having to play the hand I’ve been dealt by the Crown.”
Lethbridge Crown Prosecutor Sheena Campbell, who acted as agent for Calgary Crown Prosecutor Joe Mercier who is assigned to the case, said additional disclosure was provided April 6 and was picked up by defence. The disclosure relates to some of the media with which defence was having issues.
Campbell said Mercier did not hear about any problems until Wednesday of this week – a month after disclosure was picked up – and that there was not enough time to correct it by Thursday’s court hearing.
“He indicated that the same format of disclosure had been provided to other counsel and that no other counsel was having issues with that media, and that it had been tested and was working fine.”
Fagan pointed out, however, the Crown’s office said it, too, was having issues with some of the videos, and she has that information “in writing” from the Crown.
“So it’s not simply my office that’s having a hard time accessing the disclosure.”
Other defence lawyers have also complained about lengthy delays in receiving disclosure, and how unmanageable it is once they receive it.
“Given the nature of the disclosure and the way in which it has been provided, I requested a drive or other format of disclosure to be provided, as the way that the disclosure is currently disclosed is untenable,” explained Calgary lawyer Kirsten Lancee during a hearing on March 31.
Lancee, who represents Mohammad Neirabani, said because the disclosure was not properly organized, it’s taking an incredible amount of time for defence to review it.
Calgary lawyer Jeanine Zahara, who represents Mahmoud Neirabani, expressed similar concerns at the March 31 hearing, and said her disclosure was contained in a number of separate PDF files, which didn’t have a table of contents and were not labelled. She said she received additional disclosure only a couple of days earlier while she was still reviewing some 90 media files and nearly 30 judicial authorizations.
During a court hearing on April 22, Lancee said she was still waiting for specific disclosure relating to a sexual assault kit and corresponding medical documents. She noted that without the missing information she is unable to set dates for a trial, or determine how much time would be needed for a voir dire or any pre-trial motions.
Lethbridge lawyer Marcus Mueller also told court on April 22 that he was still waiting for more disclosure for his client, Abdullah Mohamad, and despite a request by the Crown to set a date for a preliminary hearing, he was unable to proceed, as well.
The accused are part of a group of men and two youth who were charged last August in relation to human trafficking investigation. Police said several men selected and groomed a 15-year-old girl and took her to specific locations where sex offences took place. The same individuals had also engaged in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl, and three additional victims came forward later in connection with the investigation.
The charges include sexual interference, sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault, and all but one of the accused face charges of trafficking persons under the age of 18. All the accused have been released on bail.
Some of the accused are scheduled to be in court today, while Fagan was granted an adjournment to June 10. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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