"The Crown has presented no evidence of what Giles actually did," Richard Fowler said of the charges against his client, David Francis Giles, 58, a Hells Angels member for more than 20 years."What cogent evidence is there that he's engaged in criminal activity?" he asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie.After a 10-month trial, the prosecution has offered no evidence to prove Giles ever possessed or controlled nine kilograms of cocaine seized by police in Kelowna in 2005, Fowler said.
"In this case, there's no evidence of who supplied the cocaine. There is no evidence that he paid for the cocaine," he added.
Fowler suggested the Crown has taken evidence and moulded it to fit its theory that Giles was involved in a "joint venture" with two co-accused in possessing the cocaine for trafficking."But it's ill-fitting," he said of the Crown evidence.
Giles is accused of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels."
The trial is a test case of the anti-gang law being applied against the Hells Angels in B.C.Also on trial are alleged Hells Angels associates David Roger Revell, 43, and Richard Andrew Rempel, 24, who are accused of cocaine trafficking and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in association with a criminal organization -- the Hells Angels.In April 2005, police seized nine kilograms of cocaine over a two-day period: three kilograms from a storage locker in the Kelowna area, five kilograms the next day from a secret compartment in a car kept on a used car lot in Kelowna, and another kilo seized from a drug dealer's car leaving the car lot.
Police also found about 400 grams of cocaine on the car lot, where Rempel worked. The lot was allegedly operated by Revell, who also operated a local gym and a restaurant.The Crown, during four days of final arguments, played a number of recordings of intercepted phone calls and outlined a flurry of BlackBerry e-mails allegedly exchanged between Revell and Rempel after the cocaine was seized from the storage locker and police were checking the car containing the cocaine.
Police also installed covert listening devices in Giles' Kelowna-area home and in the Hells Angels clubhouse in Kelowna.
The Crown contends Vancouver's East End Hells Angels were expanding into Kelowna, where they wanted to establish a new chapter and take control of the lucrative illicit drug market.In one conversation in Giles' home on May 2, 2005, the biker is heard discussing the seized cocaine and telling Revell: "We'll get back up."
The Crown suggested that is evidence both men are involved in the cocaine seizures and that they further discussed how much money they owed for the
But Fowler argued the quality of the recording was so poor that the words attributed to Giles were not clear. "Nor is it clear Giles is talking at that point," he added, suggested there may be someone else in the room other than Revell and Giles.
Fowler went over a number of phone calls to show Giles was not directing or controlling Revell and Rempel.The lawyer suggested Giles and Revell were simply friends who often discussed things over the phone and in person. Police surveillance observed Giles and Revell meeting outside a Kelowna gym called Reflex on April 6.
The eight-minute meeting occurred as police were seizing the car containing the five kilograms of cocaine.What might have been discussed at that meeting is simply speculation, Fowler said, adding the judge should be cautious in making inferences not based on a foundation of fact.The lawyer pointed out that during a wiretap conversation on May 2, 2005 between Giles and Revell, they discussed the loss of eight kilograms of cocaine, which he said indicates only that Giles had knowledge of the cocaine, but was not controlling or directing Revell or the drugs.
"You have to be extremely careful about relying on after-the-fact conversations to infer knowledge," Fowler told the judge.
The judge pointed out that Giles was heard saying in the Kelowna clubhouse: "I deal in drugs." But Fowler said the comment must be viewed in its context -- Giles was discussing what police believe. "He's relaying what he's been told [by police]," he added.The defence lawyers will continue their final arguments today at the Vancouver Law Courts.A total of 18 men were arrested. A number of trials are pending