By Josh Hoffman/102.9 The Drive Cranbrook

Polygamy conviction challenge concludes in Cranbrook

Dec 15, 2017 | 6:06 AM

CRANBROOK, B.C. – A challenge of Canada’s polygamy laws has wrapped up in Cranbrook Supreme Court.

The application to have the charge against Winston Blackmore stricken from the record was adjourned Thursday night after three days of proceedings.

Blackmore, a former bishop of a Mormon fundamentalist group in Bountiful, was convicted in July of marrying 24 women over the past 25 years.

His lawyer, Blair Suffredine, is arguing an abuse of process and that it was unfair to prosecute Blackmore following a 1992 public statement from the province’s attorney general that said such a move would breach a person’s charter rights, and that they wouldn’t be proceeding with any charges against members of the Bountiful community.

However, special prosecutor Peter Wilson said a news release is not a legal declaration by a court, and the religious leader purposely ignored B.C. and U.S. laws when marrying women as young as 15.

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Wilson went as far as to call the applicants’ arguments “bare allegations,” and evidence presented in the three-day hearing does not meet the standards of abuse of process.

The court was reminded by Wilson in his final submissions that the applicant holds the burden of proof.

The special prosecutor suggested there’s no evidence the accused sought legal advice from a state official after the 1992 remarks, and Blackmore took a calculated risk when continuing to practice his beliefs without seeking the proper affirmation.

At the centre of the argument to have the charges thrown out is whether there were prejudices created against Blackmore during this decades-long process. One is the uncertainty from the province wehther to prosecute. A second involves new evidence found in 2008 when authorities raided a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints property in Texas.

Wilson conceded prejudice could occur in similar circumstances, but argued Blackmore never referenced any legal precedent and his lawyers have failed to provide any evidence of state misconduct.

The matter has been adjourned until next year when counsel will meet to set a decision on the challenge.

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