news High court hears case for fourth trial for teen accused in Reena Virk death

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High court hears case for fourth trial for teen accused in Reena Virk death


32 minutes ago






By Sunny Dhillon, The Canadian Press



VANCOUVER, B.C. - The mother of a Victoria teenager who was beaten and drowned more than a decade ago in a crime that shocked the country is wondering if her family will ever have the chance to grieve as Canada's highest court readies to hear arguments on whether a fourth trial against one of the accused killers will go forward.


Kelly Ellard has twice been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for taking part in the murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in November 1997. Another trial for Ellard ended in a hung jury.


The Supreme Court of Canada begins hearing arguments Monday after the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned Ellard's latest conviction last September by ruling that the judge at her third trial erred.


Virk's mother, Suman, said it's been difficult for the family to move forward with the case seemingly stuck at a standstill.


"This whole case has taken way too long to be finished and over with. It's been over 11 years since we lost our daughter and I think there has to be some better way to bring offenders to justice," she said.


Ellard was 15 when she allegedly tormented, helped beat and later drown Virk in Victoria's Gorge waterway.


The crime was especially shocking because Virk was swarmed by eight teenagers, all but one of them girls.


They beat her and stubbed a cigarette out on her forehead.


The Crown has alleged Ellard and 16-year-old Warren Glowatski then followed Virk across a bridge and continued the attack. Her body was found floating in the waterway a week after she went missing.


Six girls were convicted of assault causing bodily harm for the initial attack and sentenced under the Young Offenders Act to various short jail terms.


Ellard and Glowatski were tried as adults and convicted separately of second-degree murder. The court heard Ellard dragged Virk into the Gorge and held her head under water.


Ellard's first conviction was overturned on appeal and a second trial ended in a hung jury.


The third trial in 2005 resulted in another conviction and Ellard was given a life sentence with no parole eligibility for at least seven years, the same term as Glowatski, who testified against her and was paroled in 2007.


But her lawyer appealed yet again, arguing the B.C. Supreme Court judge trying the case should have given better instructions to the jury on how to weigh the consistency of the evidence given by other teens who said they saw Glowatski and Ellard follow Virk across a bridge.


They didn't see that, he contended, but created the scene based on rumours that raced around the teens' school after Virk disappeared.


The Appeal Court agreed in a 2-1 decision that opened the door for the Crown to take that ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.


Suman Virk said her family is hoping to avoid the hardship of yet another trial.

She added that moving forward has proven much more difficult due to the constant state of limbo surrounding Ellard's fate.

"It's put a lot more stress on the grieving process," the mother said.

Robert Gordon, director of the school of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said like many members of the public, he's left scratching his head as to why the case has not yet been finalized.

"I'm not sure I understand what the strategy is here unless it is to try to wear everybody down to the point where they just simply now walk away from the matter and Ellard goes free," Gordon said.

"I think in the eyes of many and the hearts of many we're looking at the limits of the ability of our criminal justice system to properly process offenders."

Gordon said while the case has undoubtedly worn down the victim's family members, not knowing her fate as opposed to serving out the sentences she's been handed has likely had adverse effects on Ellard as well.

"I question whether in the end this is in the best interest of Kelly Ellard," he said.

Ellard lawyer Peter Wilson declined comment since the matter is currently before the courts.

Crown lawyer John Gordon said simply, "We would prefer the Supreme Court of Canada to restore the conviction rather than have to proceed to a fourth trial."

Victoria defence lawyer Robert Mulligan stressed that it's unusual for one case to spawn quite so many trials and said the public should be comforted to know that there is a fair process of appeal in this country.

"The Supreme Court of Canada could say that any one of those three judges in the Court of Appeal got it right or analyze it in perhaps even a different way," Mulligan said.

"But thank goodness we have a system where it's possible to have a court, the Supreme Court of Canada which sits with a large panel, review the decision which split that way."

Mulligan called Canada's justice system one of, if not the best, in the world and said a fair trial is the most important value in this case.

"I hope that anyone who's concerned about the course of the proceedings here would examine the evidence and not simply say, 'I heard a case that was tried three times. That seems like too much. Why don't they just stop that and send this girl to jail?"'

While some might suggest Ellard's legal team has prolonged the case, Mulligan has a different point of view.

"It's arguable, given the nature of the evidence here, that the prosecution should not be proceeding further. Sometimes, for example, after a hung jury the Crown does not actually proceed with another trial. The Crown chose to proceed with another trial here after the hung jury," he said.

The Virk family won't be attending Monday's hearing.

Suman Virk says she and her husband Manjit are unsure if they'll attend a fourth trial, should it move forward.

"It will depend on what's going on but I can't see us sitting there through the whole thing because most of the stuff we've heard," she said.

"I'm hoping that she won't be granted another trial and this will all be over."