Full file withheld on cop facing sex charges
A judge has declined to disclose to an accused pimp the entire police file relating to the investigation of a senior member of the Vancouver Police Department who investigated the accused and is now facing his own sex charges.
Michael William Bannon, the accused pimp, has been charged with a number of offences related to the alleged recruitment of prostitutes, including underage females, for financial gain. There are a total of nine complainants against Bannon.
His trial had been set to begin March 20 but in December the Crown disclosed to his lawyer that Det. Jim Fisher, who was initially the lead investigator of Bannon, had been charged with sexual touching of a young person, breach of trust, sexual assault and attempting to obstruct justice.
One of the alleged victims in the case against Fisher, referred to in a court ruling posted online Wednesday only as Complainant #1 due to a publication ban, is also a complainant in the indictment against Bannon, according to the ruling.
The Crown in Bannon’s case disclosed to his lawyer some material relating to Fisher, including a vetted version of a lengthy report to Crown counsel of the Fisher investigation.
The disclosed material also included statements obtained by police from all but one of the complainants as to whether Fisher had sexual contact with them or otherwise misconducted himself.
Despite the fact that the Crown has indicated that further disclosure will follow, including texts or e-mails between Fisher and Complainant #1, Bannon’s lawyer applied to have Fisher’s entire police file released to the defence.
In response to Bannon’s application, the Crown argued it had satisfied its disclosure requirements under the law and the defence was not entitled to anything beyond what was already released or promised to be released.
Fisher, who was initially going to be called as a witness for the Crown, is no longer on the Crown’s witness list but Bannon’s lawyer has indicated he intends to seek to have Fisher declared an adverse or hostile witness so that he can be cross-examined, says the ruling.
The main issue in the disclosure application was whether the Crown should release information about Fisher’s involvement in the investigation of Reza Moazami, a pimp who was convicted of running a teen prostitution ring and sentenced in November 2015 to 23 years in prison.
In his ruling on the disclosure application, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gregory Bowden said that it appeared that Fisher was involved with someone he only referred to as Complainant #2, a complainant in the Moazami case, and that it was alleged he counselled her to avoid prosecution in relation to a crime she may have committed.
“It is my view that except for the information that the Fisher File contains regarding (Det. Fisher’s) conduct or contact with a complainant in Mr. Bannon’s case, it is not obviously or even likely relevant in Mr. Bannon’s case or to Mr. Bannon’s right to make full answer and defence in his trial and need not be disclosed,” said the judge.
While declining to disclose the entire Fisher file, the judge did make an order that there be further disclosure of some other materials related to the police officer, who was awarded a citation for his work on the Moazami case. The next court appearance for Bannon is April 3.