Judge rejects strict publication ban in Pickton case

Evidence presented at pre-trial hearings in the Robert William Pickton murder case won't be subject to an airtight publication ban, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Defence lawyers had been asking for major restrictions on information before the Port Coquitlam man's trial begins sometime next year. He faces 27 charges of first-degree murder.

• INDEPTH: Publication bans

Specifically, they wanted the judge to order people watching the pre-trial evidence unfold not to talk to or otherwise communicate with anyone about what they had learned.

The only exception to the ban on conversation would be journalists talking to their editors or colleagues for a limited list of purposes.

But Justice James Williams denied the request by defence lawyers, saying the standard bans on reporting evidence from pre-trial hearings would be sufficient to protect Pickton's right to a fair trial.

The case has drawn international interest. As many as 60 women, many of them sex-trade workers or drug addicts, disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in the 1980s before police arrested Pickton.

• INDEPTH: The missing women of Vancouver

Pickton's lawyers said they were concerned that information revealed in court hearings would make its way onto the internet and become common knowledge, tainting the potential pool of jurors.

To deal with that fear, Williams ordered journalists and news agencies to refrain from publishing the names or the addresses of websites that give out shielded details.

Specifically, the ruling ordered that "there be no publication or broadcast by any means, including the internet, of information that would tend to identify websites or other sources from which prohibited information about these proceedings can be assessed, including, but not limited to, the names and addresses of any such websites and sources."

Crown prosecutors had joined various media groups in opposing the defence's request for the ban, saying it would amount to closing the courtroom.

Canada's legal system is built on the principle that justice must be conducted in open session except for certain measures designed to protect a victim's privacy or an accused person's right to a fair trial at the hand of jurors who have not prejudged the case.

Pickton, 55, has not yet said whether he wants to be tried by a judge alone or by a judge and jury.