Hearsay evidence at B.C. extradition hearing unreliable, lawyer says

VANCOUVER – A lawyer representing the uncle of a young B.C woman slain in India more than a decade ago says too much time has passed since then for second-hand witness accounts to be reliable.

Jassi Sidhu’s mother and uncle are facing extradition to India, where they are facing charges related to Sidhu’s murder in 2000.

Her co-workers and friends have testified at the extradition hearing that she feared for her life because her family disapproved of her secret marriage to a poor rickshaw driver in India.

Lawyer Michael Klein says their accounts are unreliable because some of the witnesses admitted having trouble remembering their conversations with Sidhu.

Klein also says it’s possible that the witnesses’ testimony has been tainted by what they discussed with each other, and by media reports.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge will decide whether the hearsay evidence should be admissible.