Courts Working Fast To Process Gang Suspects, Attorney General Promises
Posted June 22, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“Improper and unacceptable.” That’s how an Ontario judge classifies the handling of 95 alleged gang members arrested in a series of police raids across the GTA last week.
Justice Ian Nordheimer suggested Thursday that holding the suspects for eight days without a bail hearing violated their rights. “There is no excuse for the court system not being able to process all of these people,” he complained in a statement, adding that the accused’s consent must be obtained before adjourning a bail hearing for more than three days.
But the province’s attorney general insisted that the court system is working as quickly as possible. Half of those charged in the Project Kryptic operation have already had their hearings, Michael Bryant said, and the other half will be processed in the coming days.
“Prosecutors in Ontario were ready and assigned and able to deal with any and all bail matters as they arise, at the same time as the criminal justice system continues to address the almost 600,000 charges that it does every year,” he assured.
Bryant said the matter was being taken very seriously by the courts.
