Crown appeals decision that halted cocaine case for going 7 days over Jordan timeline

Crown appeals decision that halted cocaine case for going 7 days over Jordan timeline

Prosecution wants Court of Appeal to order new trial

The Crown is appealing a decision that recently stopped criminal proceedings against a western Newfoundland man, due to unreasonable trial delays.

In June, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Thomas Johnson stayed the case against Sean Gibbons.

Gibbons had been charged with one count of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

The judge found that delays in providing disclosure of evidence caused the trial date to be delayed beyond the acceptable limit — by just seven days.

The Supreme Court of Canada's R. v. Jordan decision set timelines for trials to be completed from the time charges are laid — 18 months in provincial courts, and 30 months in superior courts.

Gibbons’s trial was scheduled to conclude in 30 months and seven days.

In a notice of appeal filed earlier this month, the federal Crown said the trial judge “erred in law” in his interpretation of the Charter when he made the decision.

The prosecution is asking the province’s top court to order a new trial.

Gibbons had been charged after a three-year RCMP investigation dubbed Project Bustle, which resulted in multiple arrests.