The entrapment hearing into whether Amanda Korody and John Nuttall were coerced into their plans to bomb British Columbia’s legislature have been suspended – and because of a publication ban, the details as to why are scarce.
“There appears to be a significant amount of disclosure from CSIS that they just don’t want to give up,” says Vancouver lawyer Paul Dorshenko, who is not involved in the case.
“It’s abhorrent really in our justice system to keep information from an accused that could be used to defend themselves.”
Nuttall and Korody were found guilty of murder conspiracy last year, but for months, a judge has been considering whether the couple was entrapped by the RCMP and CSIS.
Earlier this week, Dr. Omid Safi, director of Islamic studies at Duke University, testified Nuttall was confused and repeatedly seeking spiritual guidance from the undercover RCMP officer.
READ MORE: ‘If there’s true justice, he will walk away’: John Nuttall’s mother speaks out
CSIS has been continually battling in court to keep information from becoming public, including the extent of its role in the investigation.
Now, the defence says it can’t close its case until the matter is resolved. How long that will take is unknown.
“It could be a long time yet that this is going through our court system,” says Dorshenko.
“We could end up at the Supreme Court of Canada. This is the type of thing that taxpayers end up paying spend millions of dollars for, and wondering whether we got any benefit out of it.”