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Judge rules Crown can retain evidence for another year from crane collapse

August 29, 2022  By CastaNet


A Kelowna, B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered the further detention of evidence in the criminal investigation of the July 2021 crane collapse in downtown Kelowna that killed five people, despite arguments to the contrary from Stemmer Construction’s lawyer.

On July 12, 2021, a crane operated by Stemmer Construction collapsed during disassembly in downtown Kelowna, near Bernard Avenue and Bertram Street.

Last month, the Crown applied for the further detention of 112 items that the RCMP has seized during its investigation. In response to the Crown’s application for further detention, a lawyer for Stemmer Construction, Kevin Westell, argued the RCMP had improperly seized data from three particular laptops belonging to the construction company. When the officers filed the “Form 5.2 Reports to a Justice” about the items seized, they listed the three laptops, but made no reference to the data contained on the devices.

It’s not clear how long the RCMP’s investigation into the tragic crane collapse may take. No criminal charges have been laid in connection to the incident at this time.

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(CastaNet)


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