Robin Flumerfelt

The Crown applied for a lengthy adjournment of the accused's first-degree murder trial, citing the recent exclusion of a key expert witness, voluminous late disclosure from a third-party records application, and a newly received forensic pathology report.

The court rejected the request for a lengthy delay to replace the excluded expert evidence, noting the accused's right to a timely trial after 38 months of investigation.

However, the court granted a short adjournment of one month to allow the parties to review the late disclosure and the new pathology report.

The accused, a police constable, was convicted after a retrial of breach of trust under s. 121 of the Criminal Code for leaking confidential police intelligence documents to members of the Hells Angels through an intermediary.

The leaked materials included sensitive intelligence bulletins and the identity of a confidential informer during a joint forces investigation targeting organized crime.

At sentencing, the court emphasized that police officers occupy a position of exceptional public trust and that general deterrence and denunciation are paramount sentencing principles for breaches of that trust.

The court considered case law involving corruption by police and other public officials and concluded that a penitentiary term was required.

A conditional sentence was rejected as inconsistent with denunciation and deterrence given the seriousness of the conduct and its impact on police operations and informer protection.

The accused, a police officer, was charged with breach of trust for allegedly leaking confidential police intelligence bulletins to the Hells Angels.

The Crown's case relied on circumstantial evidence, including the accused's fingerprints on documents seized from the gang, phone records showing contact with a gang associate, and the accused's fabricated statements to investigators.

The court applied the W.(D.) test for credibility and found the accused's explanations lacked an air of reality.

The court concluded that the cumulative circumstantial evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused leaked the documents.

The accused was found guilty.