Hells Angels drug trafficking trial in Comox Valley to continue despite court deadline

A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled the trial of two men tied to a Hells Angels drug network may proceed, exceeding Canada's 30-month trial limit by 13 months.

Comox Valley Hells Angels drug trial cleared to continue past Jordan deadline

Google News CA — Crime (EN) reports that a B.C. Supreme Court judge has allowed the drug-trafficking trial of two men linked to the Hells Angels to proceed, despite the case running 13 months beyond the time limit established by Canada's Supreme Court for superior court trials.

Randall James Morley King and Johnathan Erin Clifford were charged in November 2023 following an investigation by B.C.'s anti-gang agency, which involved undercover officers and a police agent. A third accused, Jeffrey Scott Pasanen, was originally set to stand trial alongside them but has since died.

The trial is not expected to conclude until July 2027 — 13 months past the 30-month ceiling set under the so-called Jordan framework, a 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that established time limits for criminal proceedings. Under that framework, charges in superior courts must be concluded within 30 months of their approval, after deducting defence-caused delays. Cases that exceed the ceiling face a stay of proceedings unless the Crown demonstrates exceptional circumstances.

Justice Douglas Thompson ruled Tuesday that the delay was justified by the case's complexity. He cited intensive pre-trial work, including applications for third-party disclosure, Charter arguments regarding unreasonable search and seizure, and a successful application to move proceedings to Victoria to accommodate the security requirements of a protected police agent testifying as a witness.

Those security measures were substantial. Metal detector gates were installed at the Burdett Avenue courthouse entrance, additional sheriffs were brought in from the mainland, and all other entrances to the building were closed while the agent testified over several weeks.

Thompson also attributed delays to the late delivery of witness protection program records, inadequate defence planning, Clifford's decision to change lawyers in September 2025, and disclosure delays by the Crown.

After accounting for defence-caused delays, Thompson calculated the trial would conclude 99 days past the Jordan ceiling — a threshold he nonetheless found unavoidable given the case's scope.

"The remaining delay is a product of the case's structure, demands, and compounding complexities," Thompson said in his ruling. "My assessment is that it reflects the inherent realities of this particular case in all its complicated facets."

The trial is proceeding before a judge alone and runs alongside a voir-dire — a separate hearing on questions of law — in which the defence is arguing that police committed an abuse of process during the investigation and seeking a stay of proceedings or exclusion of evidence.

The Crown's position is that King and a second full-patch Hells Angels member directed the police agent to take on an accounting and supervisory role within the trafficking network while Pasanen, the alleged leader, was hospitalized.

The defence counters that by instructing the agent to accept that role, police effectively facilitated the continued flow of cocaine into the Comox Valley.

The police agent, whose identity is shielded by a publication ban, began providing information on Pasanen and his associates as a confidential informant in June 2020. In September 2021 he signed a formal agreement to operate as a police agent, subsequently conducting 38 undercover scenarios and wearing a wire in nearly all of them until Pasanen, King and Clifford were arrested in January 2022.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)