Phone emails can’t be used against pair in Bacon trial

Crown says it will use messages as evidence against only 1 of 3 men accused in 2011 killing of gangster

Messages on an encrypted BlackBerry phone will be used as evidence against only one of the three men accused in the Jonathan Bacon murder trial.

Jason McBride, Jujhar Khun-Khun and Michael Jones are on trial for the murder of Bacon and the attempted murder of four others during a daylight gang shooting on Aug. 14, 2011, outside Kelowna’s Delta Grand hotel.

In August 2011, gangster Amir Eghtesad was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in a separate investigation.

Police seized an encrypted BlackBerry from him, and in June 2014, 13,346 emails were recovered spanning the period June 10, 2011, to Aug. 21, 2011.

Originally, Crown counsel intended to use the messages on the device as evidence against McBride, Jones and Khun-Khun.

However, in court Monday in Kelowna, one of the prosecutors stated the Crown had changed its position.

“At this time, Crown is no longer tendering the PGP messages obtained by this BlackBerry device against either Mr. Khun-Khun or Mr. Jones,” she said. “They are only being tendered as admissible against Mr. McBride.”

Two of the email accounts from which messages have been obtained on the BlackBerry were authored by McBride and are therefore admissible against him, said the prosecutor.

Earlier this year, defence counsel for McBride applied to have evidence on Eghtesad’s BlackBerry ruled inadmissible.

In March, Justice Allan Betton ruled the evidence was admissible.

The trial, which began in May, continues.