Court Adjourns Early for Case Management Conference

The One Don Klansman Gang trial ended early on Wednesday as Chief Justice Bryan Sykes convened a Case Management Conference in his chambers. Expectations were high in court as cellphone conversations between alleged gang members were to be heard out loud.

The prosecution recalled one of its key witnesses, a former gang member who previously testified that he secretly used three cellphones to record conversations he had with other alleged members of the gang. The witness had shared these recordings with the police to further implicate the defendants. He identified the three smartphones allegedly used to capture the conversations.

On Monday, the recordings were successfully admitted into evidence, after the defense previously objected to the authenticity of the data. Suggesting that the crown cannot prove the devices and application used were fully functional and that the witness could have easily fabricated and altered the data before sharing it with the investigating officer. These telephone conversations were to be heard out loud in court on Wednesday for the witness to identify the voices. However, the court only partially heard from one of the recordings as the witness who testified from a remote location was unable to hear the voices clearly. 

The witness made a certain indication to Chief Justice Bryan Sykes who then adjourned the proceedings for fifteen minutes to permit the prosecution to consult with the defense for reasons which the media are not allowed to disclose. 

Upon Justice Sykes’ return, minutes after 11, he noted that the trial will be adjourned until Thursday, February 17 at 10 am, and announced that a Case Management Conference will convene. More details in this report: