ANTI-GANG LAW PUSHED TO LIMIT

Roundup 'Wipes Hells Off Map' - Prosecutor

When about 2,000 police officers targeted 156 Hells Angels and their
associates from across Quebec yesterday, what they were really doing
was indulging in some belated spring cleaning.

Eight years after investigators stormed the barricades of the Hells
Angels-affiliated Nomads and swept up 139 outlaw bikers in what came
to be known as Operation Springtime 2001, police finally have finished the job.

By cracking down yesterday on the 111 full-patch Hells Angels left in
Quebec, plus 45 associate gang members, police have essentially
eradicated the five remaining Quebec chapters of the world's most
powerful outlaw biker gang.

There are, however, worrying peculiarities with this roundup that
could stymie even the most seasoned prosecutor and return many gang
members to the street. The issues are the sheer enormity of the
catch, plus the fact prosecutors appear to be pushing Canada's
anti-gang law to its limits.

Yesterday's arrests mean the final chapter of the biker war that saw
164 killings from 1994 to 2002 is about to unfold in a new series of
megatrials.

"As far as the Hells Angels are concerned, (this operation) wipes
them off the map," said a prosecutor, who would speak only if his
name was not used.

In 2001, Operation Springtime targeted the all-powerful Nomads, led
by their notorious war leader and prison-guard killer, Maurice (Mom) Boucher.

Now Operation SharQc 2009 (Strategie Hells Angels Region Quebec) has
vacuumed up the province's remaining Angels and charged them with
drug trafficking, 22 murders plus conspiracy to murder rival gang
members in the Rock Machine, the Bandidos, the Dark Circle and the
Alliance in a war that lasted from 1994 to 2002.

Hells Angels rules dictate that every chapter must have at least six
members on the street at a given time.

Yesterday's arrests basically mean the gang's chapters in Montreal,
Trois Rivieres, Quebec City, Sherbrooke and the so-called South
Chapter can no longer field troops and therefore can no longer exist
as chartered Hells Angels franchises.

"Unless they get bail, these chapters are gone," the source said.

There's not much chance of bail. Charges of murder, conspiracy and
participating in a criminal organization mean the vast majority of
the accused will await their trials in prison.

Still, prosecutors face an uphill battle. With 156 defendants lumped
into one case file, defence lawyers could have a field day tying the
court procedures into knots.

"The key is, you must not lose control," said Yves Berthiaume, a
retired prosecutor with more than 30 years' experience in murder and
gang trials. "When 12 defence lawyers want to disrupt proceedings,
there is nothing the prosecution can do. It's a tough game."

He said he expects the accused will eventually be parcelled off into
separate trials.

But that might not be so easy. One look at the charge sheet shows the
problems that a megatrial could pose.

The murder conspiracy charge, for example, has 125 defendants. Among
the 22 separate murders is the killing of Renaud Jomphe on Oct. 18,
1996. That alone has 94 defendants.

"I think they are going too far," Berthiaume said. "It was really
reaching the limits in the last trials" after Operation Springtime 2001.

In those megatrials, prosecutors divided the accused into small
groups ranging from nine to 17 people. But the charges specific to
each group allowed an easy dicing up of the files.

This latest charge sheet is a more blanket indictment based largely
on anti-gang law.

Berthiaume said the prosecutors are regarding the Hells Angels and
their associates as if they were members of a battle group in which
each person agreed to the rules of engagement - and that meant murder.

"If you are a member and those rules are known, then you are part of
the murders," he said. "If murder is what the gang does and you are
part of the gang and you can prove that is the law of the gang, then
you are guilty."

Not only could that be tough to prove, but with so many defendants,
the trials could be unmanageable.