Judge postpones preliminary hearing for three accused of dealing fentanyl-laced cocaine
Dan Zakreski | CBC News | Posted: October 3, 2018 8:08 PM | Last Updated: October 3, 2018
Defence requests delay because of volume of disclosure
A Saskatoon judge is postponing a preliminary hearing involving three men accused of selling cocaine laced with fentanyl that was linked to three fatal overdoses.
The lawyers representing Shervin Beeharry, Japmanjot Grewal and Azam Kabani jointly requested the postponement. The hearing had been scheduled to begin Wednesday.
"It would be professional negligence to proceed," said Mark Brayford, who is acting for Kabani.
A fatal weekend
The men are charged with a range of drug possession and trafficking charges that tie back to the weekend of March 10.
Police and paramedics raced to a handful of critical calls across the city, each involving individuals who had bought cocaine from a dial-a-dope dealer.
It turned out that, unknown to the buyers, the drug had been cut with the powerful narcotic fentanyl. Six people from three separate locations overdosed, with three dying.
Shortly after, police arrested and charged Beeharry, Shervin and Kabani. Beehary and Shervin have been held in custody since then.
'They had dead bodies on their hands'
The defence lawyers hinged their application on the timing and volume of disclosure from police and the prosecutors.
Brayford said his office received a memory stick in early September containing thousands of pages, much of it, in his view, poorly organized and incomplete.
"And then there was a data dump that started in the middle of last week that was unbelievable," he said.
"It would be incompetent to run [the hearing] not knowing what you don't know."
Prosecutor Brian Smith said the Crown passed along material officials received from the police. He said one of the reasons for the volume of materials is that there are, effectively, two investigations.
There are drug officers dealing with the trafficking allegations, but also major crimes detectives investigating the three suspicious deaths.
The volume of material reflects how, "they had dead bodies on their hands," Smith said.
Judge Brent Klause set the new hearing for April 2.