Delays in Boating Death Case from 2011

[my5cents]

It took the RCMP until "this year" to lay charges in a 2011 case, where it's alleged that an Alberta resident, Ryan Symington killed an 18 year old Mission BC young man who was tubing on Osoyoos Lake.

Symington is charged with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, failure to stop at an accident causing bodily harm, care or control of vehicle/vessel with over .08 and attempt to pervert/defeat obstruct justice.

It appears to me that the "attempt to pervert/defeat obstruct justice" is on going.

How about, the judge saying, "You want to delay this trial until next year ? No problem, but Symington waits for his court date in jail."

You just know what's going to happen with this one.

"Kudos" to the RCMP for taking their sweet time.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#121764

[KL3-Something]

You seem rather quick to judge and criticize the police for the time it took to lay charges. Do you know enough about what the investigation entailed that may have contributed to that delay?

There is no limitation period for indictable offences. He isn't "waiting in jail" for anything.

If you are implying that it's going to get dumped for delay reasons you're wrong. It's defense asking for the delay now, not the crown. The clock for delay arguments starts ticking once an information is sworn. Not once the offence takes place.

[my5cents]

You seem rather quick to judge and criticize the police for the time it took to lay charges. Do you know enough about what the investigation entailed that may have contributed to that delay?

There is no limitation period for indictable offences. He isn't "waiting in jail" for anything.

If you are implying that it's going to get dumped for delay reasons you're wrong. It's defense asking for the delay now, not the crown. The clock for delay arguments starts ticking once an information is sworn. Not once the offence takes place.

Well me being "quick to judge" was about the only thing involved in this investigation that was quick.

I don't think for a minute that the delays are likely the cause of the actual investigator, but because of constraints and manpower allocation of police management.

This wasn't a "who done it" type investigation. Three years for this type of investigation is inappropriate. I'm sure there's a reason. The question is, was the reason appropriate.

"It's defense asking for the delay now, not the crown." - Oh I'm not even complaining about the defense wanting to delay this case coming to trial. That's another issue. The three years to complete the investigation is the issue/topic.

You and I know what's happened here, requests sent back and forth for members to conduct interviews in other jurisdictions. A witness returned home to the lower mainland, another to Northern BC, a couple in Alberta. The time to summarize the case, send off the request time it takes for a member in another jurisdiction to act on the request on top of their own case load.

Again, management's call not the investigating member.

When the "good name" of the RCMP was at risk when Robert Dziekanski was tasered to death, sure didn't take long for members to travel all the way to Poland to try to dig up dirt on the deceased. Like I said, it's all priorities.

I'm not implying that the case will be dumped for delay, it still could, but yes the story was very clear the current delay is on the request of the defense.

"There is no limitation period for indictable offences. He isn't "waiting in jail" for anything." You're telling half the story in the first sentence and you've misunderstood my point in your second sentence.

No there is no statute of limitation in Canada for an indictable offense, BUT, there is Sec 11(b) of the Charter of Rights.

11. Any person charged with an offence has the right
...............
(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;

With a three year delay in laying the charge, Crown will certainly have the burden of demonstrating that it was reasonable that it took three years to investigate and lay charges. Likely they can surmount that hurdle, as this did involve a death.

"He isn't "waiting in jail" ". Oh don't get me wrong, I wasn't worried about the accused. He, through his lawyer, are going to try to delay this trial as long a possible. Witnesses forget, disappear, die. Time is on the accused's side. What I'm saying is "Would attending court in BC and proceeding with the trial now be so impossible if the accused was waiting in jail ?"