Accused navy spy's case adjourned until June

The case of a Halifax naval intelligence officer accused of espionage has been adjourned until next month because his lawyer has not yet received all of the files in the case.

Mike Taylor, who is representing Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Delisle, requested the adjournment in Halifax provincial court Tuesday to allow the Crown more time to vet and then release relevant documents to him.

Taylor said the disclosure was "quite voluminous," adding that it will take security officials time to go through every file to check for sensitive information before handing it over to the defence.

He said certain noteshad to be released by investigators and viewed by "a few layers" of security.

"There are a few agencies that have a potential interest in this and they want to determine whether or not they are going to make claims of privilege and whether or not they want to continue to block some of the information from being released," he said outside court.

Delisle is charged with communicating information to a foreign entity that could harm national interests.

The 41-year-old was denied bail during his last court appearance in March and has been in custody at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility since his arrest in January.

Case adjourned until June 13

He was charged under a section of the Security of Information Act that was passed by the House of Commons after the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

The RCMP said the charges against Delisle mark the first time anyone has been charged under that section of the act.

Taylor said he wasn't concerned at this point that he wouldn't receive all of the information he needs to proceed with the case, which was adjourned until June 13. He said some of the material has been blacked out.

"It's going to take a while until we get to the point where I know that I have everything they're prepared to give me," he said.

"It's just a slow process."

He said the next step could be a decision on whether to hold a preliminary inquiry and whether the case will go to Supreme Court.

Until 2010, Delisle worked for both the Chief of Defence Intelligence and at the Strategic Joint Staff, which oversees virtually every major aspect of the military's domestic and international plans and operations.

His last posting was in Trinity, a highly secure naval intelligence centre in Halifax where he started work in August of last year. He joined the military as a reservist private in 1996.

He went on to join the regular forces in 2001, was promoted to sergeant before being accepted at university for two years in Kingston, Ont., as an officer candidate and eventually landing back in Halifax at the army's Atlantic headquarters.