MOOSE JAW — A prisoner who accused court officials of having a conflict of interest with his trial must submit a formal application if he wants his allegation to be official, a judge says.
During an appearance in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on Oct. 21, Judge David Chow found Ryan Scott Milne guilty of three counts of dangerous driving to cause bodily harm, one count of assault with a weapon (a truck), one count of assault with a weapon (baseball bat) and one count of uttering threats to cause death.
However, Milne gave a profanity-laden outburst and said he refused to accept the decision and would appeal to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. He also accused Robbie Parker of having a conflict of interest — he never specified what it was — in being the Crown prosecutor on the case and trial.
The Crown and defence then set Thursday, Nov. 13, as the date for sentencing submissions.
Judge Chow had the parties return to court on Nov. 7 so he could address Milne’s “informal” accusation against Parker about the alleged conflict of interest. The judge noted that the man also made similar claims about conflicts of interest to his previous lawyers.
“No application is before me seeking relief in this regard,” Judge Chow said.
Continuing, the judge said that after he sentences Milne, he would be “functus officio,” meaning the matter would no longer be in his hands and he could not “entertain a request for relief in this regard.”
Judge Chow said he was formally notifying Milne and defence lawyer Olamide Ben-Ajayi that any allegation Milne made about or that could impact the fairness of his trial must be made properly. This meant they had to submit a formal application to the court, laying out the allegations in an affidavit form, and describing the relief — or outcome — they want and the authority that could grant the relief.
Ben-Ajayi said he understood what the judge was saying, while Milne said he did not comprehend the situation. The judge replied that he could discuss the matter with his defence lawyer afterward.
“From our discussions, I am not in a position to bring an application based on what he has told me,” Ben-Ajayi said. “ … as far as I am concerned, I do not see much substance in what he has told me.”
Parker spoke up, saying he had concerns about what Judge Chow just said, specifically, that he had highlighted the issue and brought it to the attention of the court, Milne, and his lawyer instead of making an application on their behalf.
“I certainly understand what you’re saying. You want the issue to be dealt with knowing there’s going to be an issue in advance of the sentencing … ,” Parker added.
In response, Judge Chow said he didn’t want a situation where Milne appealed the trial verdict and said that he had raised a conflict of interest — informally or otherwise — that “comprised” the trial’s fairness and that the judge did nothing.
Milne, speaking by video, said, “And it will be brought up in my appeal.”
“It’s fine” that Milne plans to appeal this issue through the correct process, the judge said, but until he received a formal application, the date for sentencing submissions would still happen on Nov. 13.
