Penticton lawyers tire of trials being moved to Kelowna courts

Statistics show number of B.C. Supreme Court trials heard in Penticton dropped to 5 last year from 15 in 2006

Moving criminal trials to Kelowna due to a lack of court resources in Penticton is depriving the community of its right to see justice done, a lawyer argued Monday after nearly being forced to take another case north.

Jesse Prince’s trial on six counts related to child pornography was one of five trials set to be heard in B.C. Supreme Court by a single judge sitting for a nineday stretch that began Monday.

Crown counsel Nashina Devji told the court she’d warned the Kelowna-based trial scheduler in advance that the judge was “overbooked,” but never heard back until Friday, when she was told the trial could instead be heard today in Kelowna.

“If there had been conversation or consideration of the matter being moved, perhaps things may have unfolded differently,” said Devji.

“But none of that was done, and now, sure, (Kelowna) perhaps is only an hour, an hour and 10 minutes away, but there are a number of concerns and considerations . . . to move it, and sometimes it is not workable.”

She was joined in opposition by defence counsel James Pennington, who emphasized the lack of court resources strikes at the heart of the justice system.

“My position is it’s a Penticton case and it needs to be heard here so the community can see that justice has been done,” said Pennington.

“I find that sometimes there’s an awful rush to move things out of this courthouse to the courthouse in Kelowna.”

Justice Gordon Weatherill, who’s visiting from Vancouver, urged the two lawyers to hit the road.

“The clock’s ticking here and we’ve got a judge and a courtroom available to have this trial heard, and both of you are saying you don’t want to drive an hour up the road to have it done,” said Weatherill.

“It’s not just driving up the road,” Pennington replied.

“As I said before, there’s an awful rush to just move things out of this registry and send them up to Kelowna.”

Weatherill insisted, however, that such flexibility is required to cope with the lack of court resources in B.C.

“Everyone has to make compromises right now with the current state of the system, and until the system’s fixed, everyone has to compromise — the Crown, the court, the accused, counsel — in order to get this done,” he said.

“In reality, until things change, there’s simply not enough facilities available.”

Weatherill later relented, however, and agreed to call the matter again June 13 to set a new date for trial. Pennington told the court he’s aiming to reschedule it for October in Penticton.

Statistics show the number of trials held in B.C. Supreme Court here has indeed decreased over the past decade.

My position is it’s a Penticton case and it needs to be heard here so the community can see that justice has been done. James Pennington

Only five trials were heard in Penticton last year, down from 15 in 2006, according to B.C. Supreme Court annual reports, which don’t list the number of days judges were physically present.

So far this year, at least three matters originally scheduled to be heard in Penticton were moved to Kelowna: the Roxanne Louie murder trial (for security reasons), a civil fraud case against a former bookkeeper and a child pornography trial that didn’t fit on the schedule.

B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton operates under the assize system, which typically sees a visiting judge sit for one or two weeks each month. Every case scheduled for a particular assize is called on the first day and placed in a queue, moved or rescheduled.

A total of 80 sitting days are planned in B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton this year, and 77 in 2018, according to schedules published online.

The B.C. Justice Ministry, which administers the court system, referred a call for comment Monday to the B.C. Supreme Court, which couldn’t be reached for comment before deadline.