Pubdate: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Neal Hall JUDGE CURBS REPORTING AT TRIAL TESTING ANTI-GANG LAW Crown Alleges Hells Angels Are A Criminal Organization A key test of Canada's anti-gang law -- alleging that the Hells Angels are a criminal organization -- has been proceeding for months at the Vancouver Law Courts with no publicity. That's because the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie, initially imposed a sweeping publication ban on the trial. The ban was to protect the fair trial rights of a number of co-accused, including other Hells Angels members facing separate trials. The ban was partially lifted recently after the judge heard an application by media lawyer Dan Burnett, representing The Vancouver Sun and two other media outlets. A further media hearing is set for Feb. 22. One of the men on trial is David Francis Giles, 58, a full-patch member of the Hells Angels East End chapter, who is accused of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels." The case stems from a two-year, $10-million police investigation that resulted in charges against 18 men, including six Hells Angels, in July 2005. It was the largest police probe in B.C. to target the East End chapter of the Hells Angels, long considered to be the wealthiest and most sophisticated biker gang in the province. The central issue at trial is whether the East End chapter is a criminal organization, which was alleged in an indictment filed July 11, 2005 by Canada's deputy attorney-general. If the Crown succeeds in its criminal-organization prosecution, it could put the assets of all East End chapter members -- real estate holdings, cars and motorcycles -- at risk of seizure under B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Act. It could also make it easier to seize property following future Hells Angels and other trials, although the criminal-organization case would have to be made each time. Last November, a heavily armed police emergency response team seized the Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse and its contents, including four motorcycles, as part of a provincial-government crackdown on organized crime. Also on trial are alleged Hells Angels associates David Roger Revell, 43, and Richard Andrew Rempel, 24, who are accused of cocaine trafficking and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in association with a criminal organization. To prove its case, the Crown called two police experts on the Hells Angels -- a publication ban on their evidence remains in place -- and four members of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels to testify. Three of the bikers refused to testify. They have been cited for contempt of court and face possible jail time at a contempt hearing on March 7. The media cannot reveal their names because they are also facing criminal charges in a series of separate trials that are scheduled to start later this year. The last trial witness in the case testified Monday -- that evidence is also banned -- and the Crown begins three days of final arguments Wednesday, followed by defence arguments next week. In their investigation, code-named Project Epandora, police used a nightclub bouncer to infiltrate the motorcycle club. The man, Michael Plante, applied to become a Hells Angels member and was accepted "in the program" as an official friend of the club. Plante, who was promised $1 million by police, testified at an earlier trial that he was given keys to the East End chapter's clubhouse and carried out illegal activity on behalf of Hells Angels members. Plante now lives under a new name but is not in witness protection. When he surfaced in 2006, he was 30. He has been paid half his fee -- $500,000 -- and will get the other half after he finishes testifying in various trials. Project Epandora was a joint-forces organized-crime investigation involving the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. and the Vancouver police department, with assistance from the RCMP and other municipal police. Police carried out 22 separate searches for methamphetamine laboratories, cocaine, marijuana, firearms, prohibited weapons, and explosives. Police also raided the Hells Angels East End chapter's clubhouses in Vancouver and Kelowna. The charges alleged in the indictments include methamphetamine production and distribution, cocaine trafficking, weapons offences, explosives offences, assaults, extortions and possession of proceeds of crime. In total, police seized more than 20 kilograms each of methamphetamine and cocaine; more than 70 kilograms of marijuana; restricted and prohibited weapons, including five handguns and fully automatic weapons with silencers; 11 sticks of dynamite with detonation cord and blasting caps; four grenades and ammunition. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart