Vancouver. Anonymous witnesses OK'd for polygamy trial

Vancouver. Anonymous witnesses OK'd for polygamy trial

http://www.canada.com/Vancouver+Anonymous+witnesses+polygamy+trial/35794...

September 25, 2010

A judge has ordered a publication ban on the identities of polygamists who may testify at a hearing to determine the constitutionality of Canada's laws on multiple marriages.

B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman found it was necessary to impose the order to allow the case to proceed with a "complete record and full argument on all sides."

The applicant, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its bishop, James Oler, argued that requiring the witnesses to be identified would put them in jeopardy of being criminally prosecuted if the law is upheld.

Lawyers for the federal and provincial governments argued against an anonymity order.

George Macintosh, a lawyer appointed as amicus curiae -- a so-called "friend of the court" who volunteers to offer information -- supported the application, arguing the witnesses were needed for the hearing.

The judge agreed.

"The fact is that, in all likelihood, if the order does not go, the proposed witnesses will not testify," Bauman said in a ruling released Friday.

"The order is needed so as to ensure that the evidence of these witnesses is before the court. And that evidence is necessary for the court to conclude the reference."

The judge ruled that if a witness gives evidence by affidavit -- a sworn statement of fact -- the witness may elect not to include his or her name or identifying details and the witness may use a pseudonym.

He also found that if a witness is cross-examined on an affidavit or gives evidence in open court, questions that would reveal his or her identity would not be allowed. Furthermore, a witness may elect to give evidence from behind a screen and use a pseudonym.

Oler and Winston Blackmore, also a bishop of FLDS in the community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C., were charged with polygamy but had their charges stayed after a judicial review of the charge-approval process.