Lon Rose, the lawyer representing accused bicycle thief Igor Kenk, will not be able to represent his client at a Monday hearing that could see Kenk lose his property to the Ontario government.
The Globe and Mail reports that government lawyers will attempt to link Kenk’s bike shop, pickup trucks and the 2,292 bicycles police seized in raids of his storage spaces to the crimes he is accused of committing. If successful, the government will seize and sell the property, to help offset the costs the public has borne while Kenk awaits trial.
This move, made possible by the Civil Remedies Act, will be played out at a forfeiture hearing on Monday — which is why Kenk’s criminal lawyer can’t represent him. Rose is trying to find a civil lawyer on behalf of his client.
Kenk cannot pay for a civil lawyer through legal aid, but he could claim a portion of the proceeds from the sale of his seized property to pay for counsel at the forfeiture hearing — at the legal aid rate. James Diamond, the Toronto lawyer who led an unsuccessful Supreme Court of Canada challenge of the Civil Remedies Act, told the Globe that he finds that prospect “concerning,” because “you are using the value of the seized item that people can claim is theirs, subject to the decision of the court, and before anybody has made a decision on that, you’re already decreasing the value of that to pay for your lawyer.”
Photo by Francis Mariani.