Judge `nervous' over court resources in terror cases

`Unreasonable delay' could see charges stayed if proceedings take too long

One of Calgary's veteran judges is concerned about the drain the prosecution of two local men facing terrorism-related charges may have on the court system.

Lawyers for Hussein and Jamal Borhot, who are cousins, but charged separately, appeared in criminal appearance court Friday and asked that their cases be adjourned a month so they can review “voluminous” Crown disclosure.

Justice David Gates said a review of the file has him concerned it will require significant court resources for their cases to be brought to trial.

But Crown lawyer Domenic Puglia said the prosecution intends to use “tools in the Criminal Code” to streamline the matters.

Puglia said a section of the act will allow him and co-prosecutor Kent Brown to case manage some portions of both files together, even though they are being prosecuted separately.

He said issues such as the admissibility of intercepted communications and whether the Crown's proposed expert is qualified to testify can be dealt with in single applications.

Gates said the Crown should contact Associate Chief Justice John Rooke and get a case management judge assigned quickly.

“Please write to the associate chief justice and advise him of the existence of these files and what you think you require,” he said.

“I'm a bit nervous here about what these two cases mean to this court ... the resources of this court,” Gates said.

“If you're looking for significant resources from our court, you need to let us know and I can't guarantee we're going to drop everything else to come to you immediately.”

The cousins were making their first appearance in Court of Queen's Bench after the Crown filed direct indictments against them, getting the cases out of provincial court without the need for a preliminary inquiry.

As the judge presiding over criminal appearance court, Gates has to address concerns about issues such as unreasonable delay, which could see charges ultimately stayed if the cases were to take too long to complete.

Defence lawyers David Chow and Rame Katrib asked for a fourweek delay in moving the case forward so they have time to review the disclosure from the prosecution, which includes translations of wiretapped conversations.

Chow said the disclosure has already become unwieldy and more is expected.

“We are looking at least 30,000 pages,” he told Gates.

Both accused, who are free on restrictive bail, were charged last year with three counts of participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Hussein Borhot faces an additional charge of commission of an offence for a terrorist group.

They were arrested following a seven-year investigation by the RCMP, Jamal, 30, in September, and Hussein, 35, two months earlier.