Supreme Court

Man stuck with fine for illegal dock work on Okanagan Lake

VERNON - If you’re a waterfront property owner who’s ever built a dock on the lake, a B.C. Supreme Court Judge says you need a permit for that. It’s a rule cottage owner Laurent Desautels didn’t know about in March 2013, when he hired Okanagan Pile Driving Inc. to install piles into Okanagan Lake as...

Rail corridor in doubt as Okanagan Indian Band takes land claim to court

VERNON - The Okanagan Indian Band is filing a notice of claim in B.C. Supreme Court, asserting aboriginal title to a portion of the discontinued CN rail corridor between Lake Country and Vernon. It’s part of the same rail corridor local municipalities are working towards purchasing for conversion into a trail, but Okanagan Indian Band...

Kamloops gun club to gain rare rifle after drug traffickers’ sentencing

KAMLOOPS – The city’s gun club is the unlikely beneficiary of a heavy sentence levied against a drug trafficker sentenced today in Kamloops Supreme Court—they will take custody of a rare, valuable collective rifle police confiscated. Terrence Arthur Dean, 64, was sentenced to five years in prison today, March 30, after he earlier pleaded guilty...

Accused in Clearwater murder case denied bail

KAMLOOPS – A Supreme Court Justice denied bail for a Clearwater man accused of killing his ex-wife and taking his three children hostage last Easter.  Crown Prosecutor Adrienne Murphy confirmed Justice Alison Beames denied Iain Drummond Scott’s application for bail Tuesday morning in Kelowna Supreme Court. Scott was arrested after a police standoff outside his...

UPDATE: Cache of guns, Hell’s Angels paraphernalia found on traffic stop: Crown

KELOWNA – Whether or not Hell’s Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak knew he was in a vehicle full of guns when he was arrested Nov. 25, 2010 was the focus of the opening day of his Supreme Court trial Wednesday morning. Skreptak, who was arrested shortly after 10 that night along with three other men, is...

Hells Angel found guilty on weapons charges

KELOWNA – The public may never know what would have happened had four armed men not been pulled over for speeding two years ago—but what police found inside the vehicle that night was enough to convict two of them of almost a dozen charges. Full patch Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak and alleged gang associate...

Jail for killing pedestrian? No, judge says house arrest instead

KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops man who struck and killed a 66-year-old woman in a crosswalk will serve his sentence at home instead of jail after a judge overturned his original six-month jail sentence on Friday, Feb. 13. At an appeal hearing in Kamloops Supreme Court, Justice Alison Beames granted Donald Charles Isadore his appeal and substituted a nine-month...

Victim testifies to sexual assault in dangerous offender hearing

PENTICTON — A sexual assault victim continued to give her testimony today during the dangerous offender hearing for David Bobbitt who raped her nearly eight years ago. The victim appeared in Penticton Supreme Court via closed circuit TV and gave evidence of an incident that took place in 2007. There is no relation between this...

Victim’s mother called to witness stand in dangerous offender hearing

PENTICTON - The mother of a sexual assault victim gave a brief testimony today saying her daughter would “shut down” if she was forced to testify in a room with the accused, David Wesley Bobbitt. Bobbitt’s dangerous offender hearing began this morning in Penticton Supreme Court with the offender appearing in person. Bobbitt pleaded guilty...

Accused Westside shooter trial coming to an end

"THE CASE BECOMES STRONGER WITH EACH PASSING KILOMETRE." KELOWNA – Was Michael Ellis only doing what he was told when he led police on a high speed shootout along Westside Road in 2012 or is his friend and former co-accused taking the blame because he knows it can’t affect his sentence? That was the focus...

Witness shot at three times, continues following

KELOWNA – A witness who took the stand in the attempted murder trial of accused Westside Road shooter Michael Ellis was shot at three separate times, but still refused to stop following him. Michael James Scott is an onsite construction supervisor with the Ministry of Transportation. He was in his work truck on Westside Road...

Undercover officer questioned suspect on criminal activity before introduction to crime boss

"I KNOW YOU KILLED HER" GRAPHIC LANGUAGE/SUBJECT MATTER KAMLOOPS – A jury heard recorded discussions between an undercover police officer posing as a criminal, who encouraged a murder suspect to speak to his fake crime boss about the murder of his girlfriend in Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon. The target was Robert Donald Balbar, who is...

Pathologist describes victim’s fatal head wounds

KAMLOOPS – Autopsy photos of at least nine blows to a murder victim's head were presented by a forensic pathologist in Kamloops Supreme Court Friday. Robert Donald Balbar is charged with the second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend Heather Hamill. Earlier in the trial, court heard Balbar’s video recorded confession when he told...

Dangerous offender hearing to start next week

PENTICTON - A dangerous offender hearing and sentencing for sex offender David Wesley Bobbitt will begin next Monday, June 23 in Penticton Supreme Court. Bobbitt pleaded guilty last April to several charges including sexual assault, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and confinement from an incident in 2012. Sentencing through the dangerous offender hearing, which...