A B.C. Provincial Court judge has shot down the first attempt to televise the sentencing of a Stanley Cup rioter via the web.
Coquitlam resident Ryan Dickinson is to be sentenced Tuesday but Judge Malcolm MacLean ruled there was not enough information to make a ruling in time.
The provincial government wants to broadcast all the court appearances of potentially hundreds of accused rioters still to come before the court.
MacLean said his ruling only applies to Dickinson and shouldn't be read as a broader precedent.
Cameras are normally banned from court rooms, but judges can allow proceedings to be broadcast in certain circumstances.
They must decide it is in the public interest and that televising proceedings won't affect the right to a fair trial, cause discomfort to any witness, interfere with any privacy interest that may take precedence, deter witnesses in future similar cases, cause additional court expenses or otherwise hamper the administration of justice.
"There was no information on this hearing as to the impact of broadcasting by webcast in the widest manner possible on trial fairness or the effect it may have on witnesses," MacLean stated in his decision.
"There remained many outstanding questions regarding the technology to be used and its implications for preserving the decorum and dignity of the court."
Video images could be downloaded and then manipulated or altered, the judge said, and transmitted anywhere in the world.
Dickinson's lawyer opposed the application, calling it politically motivated -a notion the judge rejected.
Crown prosecutors have asked their images not be broadcast out of concern for their safety and privacy.
Dickinson is being held in custody and pleaded guilty to riot-related offences in early January.
B.C. Crown Counsel Association president Samiran Lakshman said the association supports the applications to webcast the riot proceedings -provided the legal requirements can be met and that prosecutors' images are hidden.
He cited a study that found incidents of threats and intimidation to prosecutors more than doubled from 2007 to 2009.
Forty-seven people have so far been charged with riot-related charges and Vancouver Police have requested charges be laid against nearly 80 more.
Rioters torched police cars and other vehicles and looted stores in downtown Vancouver June 15 after the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Cup final.
