A man convicted of first-degree murder in a killing police say was linked to organized crime is seeking to have the case thrown out, arguing that delays in the process violated his Charter rights.
A jury convicted Brandon Teixeira of murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm with intent last August, nearly eight years after the October 2017 shooting death of 28-year-old Nicholas Khabra in Surrey, B.C.
The charges and trial followed a probe by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C.
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Police issued a statement at the time of Teixeira’s conviction saying an attempt had been made to arrest him after the charges were laid in 2018, but he fled to the United States, where he was arrested in Oroville, Calif., on Dec. 1, 2019 and extradited back to Canada in April 2020 to face trial.
Teixeira’s lawyer, Vicki Williams, says in a B.C. Supreme Court hearing over the so-called Jordan application that apart from two periods of time, including her client’s flight to the United States, no delays were attributable solely to the defence.
Crown lawyer Dianne Wiedemann says defence conduct constituting delay was “broad in scope,” and the case was complex enough to merit exception under the Supreme Court of Canada’s Jordan ruling, which sets time limits to ensure trials are not unreasonably delayed.
Teixiera appeared at Monday’s hearing before Justice Jennifer Duncan via videoconference wearing orange prison garb with dark facial hair and a sleeve of tattoos visible on one of his arms.
He paced the room at the correctional facility before sitting down when the hearing began to follow along with documents laid out on the table in front of him.
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