The case against dozens of Quebec Hells Angels has collapsed due to unreasonable delay, with defense lawyers estimating it could take 10 years to reach the courts. That might seem a stretch, but not all of the Angels charged in the April 2007 raid on the downtown Toronto clubhouse have yet gone to trial.
This is known as an Askov decision, named for the 1990 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada which states that any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time.
That decision came down in October 1990. One of Elijah Askov’s co-accused in that conspiracy to commit extortion trial was Toronto boxer Eddie (the Hurricane) Melo. Ten years ago, Melo was shot dead in a parking lot outside a cafe called Amici, Italian for “friends.”