Bacon murder trial could be thrown out if the accused get their way
Posted May 16, 2017 12:52 pm.
Last Updated May 16, 2017 12:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – Lawyers for the men accused of murdering a notorious Lower Mainland gangster in Kelowna nearly six years ago are asking a judge to cancel their prosecution.
As Canada’s highest court ruled last year, all trials must happen within two-and-a-half years of charges being approved — they were charged in 2013. And that is why first-degree murder charges against Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun might be tossed out.
They’re accused of gunning down Jonathan Bacon outside the Grand Delta Hotel and Resort in August of 2011. It has been four years since they were arrested.
Long-time local criminal lawyer David Albert says the trial, originally slated to start more than a year ago, has been delayed several times. “The onus is on the defence to bring that application forward, so they have to look at each appearance that was made getting to the point where the delay application is being made. Often, delays are caused as the result of the disclosure requirement.”
Albert adds the judge has the ultimate discretion, but the longer he takes to rule on this application, the harder it might be for the trial to go ahead.
Bacon was shot during a daylight attack that also wounded two other known gang members and two women.
Bacon and his two brothers, Jarrod and Jamie, were allegedly at the centre of a gang war that saw near-daily headlines about shootings throughout the Lower Mainland in 2008 and 2009.
