A hearing is set to begin in Vancouver today as the Crown appeals a 2017 court ruling that stayed charges against Red Scorpions gang leader Jamie Bacon in connection to the Surrey Six slayings.
On Dec. 1, 2017, a BC Supreme Court decision was released that said a judge had granted Bacon’s application for a stay of proceedings in his trial on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Later that month, B.C.’s prosecution indicated it was appealing.
After the ruling, B.C. Attorney General David Eby said he was “shocked, as I’m sure all British Columbians are right now.” He expressed “tremendous disappointment.”
“The families of the victims and all who have been impacted by this terrible crime deserve peace, and they will not find it today,” he said.
See also: ‘Evil won that day,’ mom of Surrey Six victims says
The 2017 hearing occurred in closed court, and the judge’s reasons for granting the application are sealed.
The prosecution service later said it had reviewed the abbreviated ruling, saying it reveals “errors of law” and that “the public interest requires an appeal.”
The service said it anticipates that further court filings, as well as some or all of the appeal proceedings, will be sealed or closed to the public.
See also: Men sentenced in 2011 gangland slaying of Jonathan Bacon
Six men, including two innocent bystanders, were shot dead at the Balmoral Tower on Oct. 19, 2007. Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were convicted in 2014 of six counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy.
