VANCOUVER, November 24, 2004
Vancouver Sun

A controversial plea bargain with killer Karla Homolka is just one example of difficult decisions that must be made to secure convictions in significant criminal cases like the Air India bombing, a Crown prosecutor argued Tuesday.

Richard Cairns was defending an RCMP decision to pay a witness against accused bomber Ajaib Singh Bagri $460,000 in order to convince the man to testify about an alleged confession by Bagri.

The former FBI informant known as John resisted the RCMP for years despite telling his FBI handler about incriminating statements he claims were made by Bagri. "It was necessary to pay [John] an amount that would satisfy his concerns with respect to his safety and satisfy John that this was an amount that would compensate him for the consequences his testimony might bring," Cairns said.

Unlike John, who was not involved in criminal activity, Homolka was implicated in the sex slaying of three teens, including that of her own sister.

"She was allowed to plead guilty to two counts of manslaughter for which she would serve a maximum sentence of 12 years," Cairns said, adding that the deal was reviewed and accepted by a retired appeal court judge. "At the time the deal was made, the attorney-general was not satisfied that the Crown could prove the murder charges against Bernardo."

What Cairns did not tell Justice Ian Bruce Josephson Tuesday is that one of the main players behind the Homolka deal was Bagri lawyer Michael Code, who was Ontario's assistant deputy attorney-general at the time.

Code defended the Homolka deal in a 1996 interview with CBC's The National. It "was a decision driven almost entirely by necessity," Code said then.

"We simply didn't have a case against Paul Bernardo.... It was more important to get him.... So much of the discontent ... is from a lack of knowledge."

Code led the Bagri submissions on why Josephson should reject John's testimony because of the payment. And he argued that if any compensation should have been given, it should have happened before John gave his statement so that he would not attempt to embellish to get more money.

Cairns called that argument "ridiculous," saying the RCMP had an obligation to see how much the statement was going to help the prosecution before deciding what to offer John.

Bagri and co-accused Ripudaman Singh Malik are charged with eight counts including first-degree murder and conspiracy in two June 23, 1985 bombings that targeted Air India and killed 331. The first blast ripped through Tokyo's Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers who were transferring a suitcase from Vancouver to an Air India flight. Almost an hour later Air India 182, en route from Toronto to India, exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 32 aboard.