Charter challenges could derail trial in gangland murder in Kelowna

A high-profile murder trial in Kelowna has been delayed several times and it has happened again.

The trial for three men accused of killing a notorious BC gangster in an August 2011 shooting outside the Grand Hotel was to begin on May 1st.

READ MORE: Three gangsters charged in connection with Bacon murder in Kelowna

It has been pushed back to May 15th because of medical issues with one of the accused.

“The Prosecution Service will not be providing any information about the nature of these issues including the identity of the affected person,” said Communications Counsel Dan McLaughlin in an email to Global Okanagan News.

On the trial’s opening day, defence counsel will argue for the charges to be stayed because of unreasonable delay.

The application is based on last July’s Jordan decision when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled superior court trials should be heard within 30 months of charges being laid.

Jason McBride, Michael Jones and Jujhar Khun-Khun were charged with first-degree murder and other offenses in February 2013.

“The Crown currently expects to begin leading evidence on May 24th,” said McLaughlin. The trial is expected to last at least six months.

The three legal-aid defence lawyers, who are from Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton, are also expected to make charter challenges to the admissibility of evidence including phone calls intercepted by police.

Red Scorpion gang leader Jonathan Bacon was killed in the daytime attack where a vehicle was sprayed with a barrage of automatic weapon fire.

Several people were injured including a member of the Hells Angels and a member of the Independent Soldiers.