Murder suspect says he’s being denied toilet paper
Chan requests court order to address alleged hygiene concerns at courthouse
Nick Chan says he isn’t getting his morning constitutional rights.
In an affidavit filed in Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench, the purported gang leader and murder suspect says sheriffs aren’t providing him soap and enough toilet paper in courtroom cells after he’s had his morning bowel movement.
In an application filed by lawyer Michael Bates, Chan wants Justice Paul Jeffrey to order the sheriffs provide him with those necessities.
Jeffrey will hear oral arguments Thursday to back up the claim.
In his affidavit, Chan says he’s being forced to eat lunch with his hands after not being able to have access to basic hygiene.
“I am not asking for any special kind of treatment,” Chan says, in his sworn document.
“But, instead, just the same treatment any person is entitled to in a public place conducting public business — to be able to wash their hands properly with soap after using a toilet facility and before eating food,” he says.
“Sometimes the sheriff will let me have the toilet paper I need,” Chan says.
“Most of the time, for no apparent reason other than maybe as some form of punishment, the sheriff will arbitrarily give me only a few squares and sometimes as few as one or two squares.”
Chan says the incidents have been occurring at his ongoing retrial on weapons charges.
He’s scheduled to go to trial in October for taking part in the August 2008 murder of Kevin Anaya, who had no gang affiliation but was gunned down on a northeast street when the intended target, Kevin Bontagon, couldn’t be found.
Chan was acquitted by a jury in March 2016 of first-degree murder over allegations he orchestrated the Bolsa restaurant triple slayings.
Jurors ruled the Crown failed to prove Chan ordered the Jan. 1, 2009, hit on rival gang member Sanjeev Mann that resulted in the slaying of Mann, gang associate Aaron Bendle and bystander Keni Su’a.
In his affidavit, Chan talks about sanitary concerns for both himself and others.
“Like any other person who has a bowel movement, sometimes I have a significant amount of feces that needs to be wiped off of my body in order to remain sanitary,” he says.
“Like any other person, sometimes after urinating and having a bowel movement I will get urine and feces on my hands by accident.
“This happens more often while I am in custody because the sheriffs often will not allow me to have enough toilet paper,” he says.
“I have enough education to understand that serious infections like e-coli happen from not properly washing hands with soap before eating and that touching things like doors, pens and other objects can transmit such infections to other people I interact with.
“I know there are many times where I have not been able to properly wash my hands that I have then touched things like note pads, pens, the Bible and court exhibits, and then I hand those items back to the lawyer or clerk who then often passes them amongst each other or the judge.”