Kamloops, B.C. (Canadian Press) -A B.C. judge should throw out charges stemming from a multimillion-dollar RCMP investigation into a national auto-theft ring after a security breach left crucial evidence exposed to theft and tampering, says a defence lawyer.
Alexander Watt said charges against the four accused men should be stayed due to the breach, which resulted from an RCMP officer’s unauthorized use of computers used to process evidence, including visits to porn sites on the Internet.
The security breach was disclosed to the defence last week when the Crown provided a letter indicating six RCMP computers used to process trial evidence from the Project Eau investigation were hooked up to the Internet in October, 2003, contrary to orders.
A team from the RCMP’s Integrated Technical Crime Unit examined the computers after the RCMP was notified of the breach.
According to the letter provided by the Crown, the team found that an investigating officer used the computers for personal reasons, including viewing pornography, downloading music and pirated software, and visiting chat lines and dating sites.
3 responses so far ↓
1 God Rocks // Apr 3, 2008 at 16:11
There we go again, just like Ontario someone gets off again because of the lack of professional conduct by some member… they either don’t show up or damages the case.
So what do we do to fix this again, a public inquiry?
2 RCMP Watch // Apr 3, 2008 at 22:08
RCMP computer security breach may have compromised trial evidence
(CBC News) - Evidence in a multi-million dollar trial into a nationwide car theft ring may have been tampered with during a computer security breach, RCMP in Kamloops, B.C., admitted Wednesday.
RCMP had isolated six computers which were dedicated to processing evidence in the case against four Kamloops men who have been charged in connection with the ring, an RCMP spokesperson told CBC News.
An RCMP officer connected the computers to the internet and then used them to download software programs, videos and music files. The officer also accessed chat lines and a dating service.
Subsequently, the computers were infected with at least four viruses over a 20-month period, the RCMP spokesperson said.
One of the viruses caused one of the computers to become part of a Zombie Network, an intrusive web-based proxy network, and sent out thousands of spam messages to other computers.
The viruses also opened a “backdoor” allowing the computer to be controlled by an outside person, including giving them the ability to view, copy, delete or alter any file on the infected machine.
RCMP computer specialists said it’s unlikely the files containing evidence in the auto theft ring investigation were altered, but there’s no guarantee the evidence was not compromised, the RCMP spokesperson said.
It’s not known if the RCMP officer who connected the computers to the internet has faced any disciplinary action.
3 Simon // Apr 4, 2008 at 20:21
The accused aren’t on trial anymore; it is the investigation that is on trial. The guilt of the accused is merely a minor side point.
How do we fix this? Take a look at the Charter and how the courts interpret it.
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