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Originally slated for 4 days in January, Vikings prelim now pushed to June

They only needed a couple hours to finish up, but now four men accused of drug trafficking have to wait until June to finish a preliminary hearing.

Delays due to conflicting schedules and illnesses

Ryan Cooke · CBC News ·
Mike King, left, Randy Piercey, top right, and Mark Gruchy are three of four defence lawyers working the case of four men accused of participating in a criminal organization. It's been a challenge to make everyone's schedules match. (CBC)

Four men accused of trafficking drugs for the Vikings biker gang in 2016 will have to wait until at least June to see if their case will go to trial.

All their lawyers needed was a couple of hours in court on Tuesday to finish a preliminary hearing, but it was set over when the Crown prosecutor called in sick.

With complicated schedules, the next available date is not until June 4.

All four accused — Vincent Leonard Sr., Wayne Johnson, James Curran and Brendan Hollohan —  have previously been released from custody.

Hollohan has returned to his job as a medical doctor, working at a practice in Conception Bay South.

Brendan Hollohan, a physician who practises in St. John's, has been charged with participating in a criminal organization as well as trafficking oxycodone. (Ted Dillon/CBC)

Conflicting schedules lead to delays

The preliminary hearing was originally slated for four days starting on Jan. 2, but required an additional day for the defence to make its submissions.

If the judge decides to take the case to trial after the preliminary hearing, it would be elected to Supreme Court. 

They would then have nine months to complete proceedings before the case could be tossed using a precedent set by a controversial Supreme Court of Canada ruling.

Under rules set forth in the Jordan decision, anything taking longer than 18 months in provincial court or 30 months in Supreme Court can be considered an unreasonable delay.

In the first year after the decision, more than 200 cases were tossed out across Canada.

Police seized various items of clothing and patches with the Vikings Motorcycle Club branding. The RCMP said outlaw motorcycle gangs need approval from the Angels to use red and white colours. (CBC)

Since Crown prosecutor Trevor Bridger was unable to make it to court on Tuesday, the lawyers were looking for dates in March.

Judge Mark Pike is unavailable in March, however, and then defence lawyer Mike King is tied up for eight weeks with Trent Butt's murder trial.

After the date on June 4, defence lawyer Mark Gruchy said he has a busy slate during the summer with a pair of trials at Supreme Court.

The four accused were picked up on Sept. 28, 2016, as part of a police raid that resulted in a dozen men being arrested.

Only one of the men, Vincent Leonard Jr., has been convicted so far. He was sentenced to 18 months for trafficking cocaine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ryan Cooke

Ryan Cooke is a journalist with the Atlantic Investigative Unit, based in St. John's. He can be reached at ryan.cooke@cbc.ca.

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