NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. - A media lawyer appeared in court Wednesday arguing that the court should lift a publication ban from exhibits filed last year at the trial of serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton.
In turn, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jim Williams, imposed a publication ban on media lawyer Dan Burnett's legal arguments, as well as both Crown and defence responses during the hearing this week.
The legal arguments are scheduled to wrap up Friday, when the judge could rule on the media application or reserve judgment to a later date.
Burnett is seeking to lift the ban on publication on a number of trial exhibits, including a videotaped conversation Pickton had with a cell mate after his arrest on Feb. 22, 2002.
The cell mate was actually an undercover police officer posing as a criminal.
Pickton, 59, was convicted Dec. 9, 2007, of six counts of second-degree murder and received a life sentence without parole for at least 25 years.
All his victims were women who lived and worked in Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.
The 11-month trial heard evidence of how Pickton lured women to his farm in Port Coquitlam, where Pickton regularly slaughtered pigs.
Pickton has filed an appeal of his conviction - and the Crown has filed a cross appeal - that will be heard March 30, 2009. It is set for seven days.
Pickton was originally charged with 26 counts of first-degree murder, but the judge decided to split the charges into two trials. The first trial dealt with the first six counts.
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal announced earlier this year that if Pickton's appeal fails and his conviction is upheld, the Crown will not proceed with a second murder trial on the remaining 20 counts, a decision that disappointed victims' families.
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