Case of assault against pro-lifer
far from over
By Tony Gosgnach The Interim
In an unexpected - and suspicious - twist, a man charged after Campaign
Life Coalition B.C. president John Hof was assaulted this past March
has changed his mind and decided to proceed to a trial.
Douglas
Chase of Vancouver Island was charged last March 14 after a man walked
up to Hof, who was joining other B.C. pro-lifers in a regular Friday
picket outside a Vancouver abortuary, and punched him in the face. Hof
was left bruised and bleeding as his assailant was led away from the
scene in handcuffs. Several pro-lifers witnessed the attack and provided
statements to police.
At a subsequent court hearing, Chase's lawyer indicated that his client
would be applying for "alternate measures," which would divert the case
from being handled as a Criminal Code matter and instead involve a meeting
with a probation officer, an admission of guilt an apology and the like.
However, at a brief July 31 hearing, counsel representing Chase told
the court that her client, who was not present for the hearing, had
changed his mind about alternate measures and would be contesting the
assault charge. The judge then announced that a two-day trial will be
held on May 17-18, 2004, with a trial confirmation hearing scheduled
for April 16.
Hof said he left court following the July 31 hearing "dumbfounded"
at the length of time the case is taking to reach a conclusion. The
trial will be held well over a year after the incident and he is concerned
about a loss of recollections of events by witnesses and police.
In noting similar, questionable events that surrounded legal proceedings
against a woman who pepper sprayed a Toronto crisis pregnancy counselor
last year - and then was awarded an absolute discharge - Hof said he
is going to be "tenacious" in ensuring that the assault charge is properly
pursued by the Crown attorney's office. "We've got meticulous documentation
of everything. I don't know what their game is, but we're not going
to play," he said.
