HELLS ANGELS ARE SET FREE
Judge blasts prosecutors in SharQc trial
A Superior Court judge put an abrupt end to the first murder trial to go before a jury in Operation SharQc after ruling the Crown withheld evidence from the defence for years.
In a stunning decision delivered at the Gouin Courthouse on Friday, Superior Court Justice James Brunton ended the murder trial of five men who were alleged to have been members of the Sherbrooke chapter of the Hells Angels, between 1994 and 2002, while the biker gang was at war with its rivals across Quebec. The men — Claude Berger, 66; Yvon Tanguay, 65; François Vachon, 43; Sylvain Vachon, 48; and Michel Vallières, 48 — were all charged with conspiracy to commit murder over the eight- year period but also faced first- degree murder charges as well. As a result of Brunton’s ruling, they all walked away free men on Friday.
About 10 prosecutors who were in the room looked stunned by Brunton’s criticisms about how they had only disclosed key evidence to the defence a month ago.
Across the floor, four of the accused i nside the prisoner ’s dock were all smiles. As Brunton reached the end of his decision, Vallières pumped his arms upward and pointed both of his thumbs in the air.
Operation SharQc involved an unprecedented roundup of almost every member of the Hells Angels in Quebec in April 2009. Charges were filed against 156 people in all, including several of the gang ’s associates. Since then more than 100 men have pleaded guilty to taking part in a general conspiracy to commit murder. But the trial of the five represented the first time a jury heard evidence in the case.
The judge also said the actions of the Crown made him conclude that there was no remedy available, for example a new trial, to correct the problem.
“I think it is an enormous relief,” said Mylène Lareau, a defence lawyer who, along with Debora de Thomasis, represented Tanguay during the trial. “Justice was served. It took time. We all fought for years to demonstrate what the judge concluded today.”
“We all had hopes because we believed in what we were doing,” Lareau said in reference to all six defence lawyers involved in the case. “But, you know, there are things you can’t control and it is the court that has to deliver the most difficult decisions.”
Brunton said the prosecutors adopted "a desire to win at all costs to the detriment to the fundamental principles that form the foundation of our penal justice system.” The defence lawyers declined to comment because there is still a trial pending in SharQc, involving two anglophones scheduled to have a trial in English.
“( SharQc) is a case without precedent. ( The Crown) did things that have never been done. Sometimes there is a price to pay for that,” was all Lanctôt was willing to say about the stinging criticism of the Crown contained in Brunton’s 17- page decision.
Berger, a retired member of the Hells Angels, was the only one of the accused out on bail for the trial. He also acted as his own lawyer. When asked by reporters how he felt after he walked out of the courtroom, he simply said: “Happy.” And when asked if he felt frustrated over having to wait so long for his case to end he shrugged and said: “That’s okay. Life is beautiful.”
When the judge then called in the jury, which had been given a few weeks off while Brunton heard arguments on the defence motion that ultimately put an end to the trial, he thanked them for their service.
Jean- Pascal Boucher, a spokesperson for the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, said the prosecutor’s bureau would read Brunton’s decision carefully before deciding whether to appeal.
Brunton’s decision involved a development in the trial that occurred on Sept. 10, exactly one month after the jury had begun hearing evidence. The Crown told Brunton it was in possession of new evidence concerning two previous investigations into the Hells Angels — dubbed Projects Snack and Cadbury. Defence lawyers had been demanding the Crown disclose the evidence pertaining to those investigations since April 2011. In December 2011, the Crown responded to the request simply by stating “The documents requested are not in our possession.”
In April 2014, a different Superior Court judge ruled the Crown abused procedure by not having disclosed the documents in question to the defence back in 2009.
When the evidence was finally disclosed to the defence last month they learned that it included statements that would have allowed them to challenge the credibility of Sylvain Boulanger, a former Hells Angel who turned informant and the most important witness in Operation SharQc. The evidence involved the murder of Sylvain Reed, a man who was killed on March 12, 1997. Four of the five accused were charged with murdering Reed and Boulanger had given statements to police alleging they and other members of the Sherbrooke chapter were involved in the slaying. However, the documents turned over to the defence last month revealed the police had evidence, from two other informants, describing a completely different scenario behind the murder.
“No other remedy can make up for the abuse described in this judgment,” Brunton said in the conclusion of his decision.
“This abuse goes beyond negligence or even harassment. It constitutes an attack on the fundamental principles of fairness that all criminal cases should benefit from.”