Elphicke makes Charter app.

Photo: Colin Dacre

The trial may be over, but the defense of Mike Elphicke isn’t finished quite yet.

After closing arguments concluded Wednesday afternoon, defense lawyer James Pennington made a Charter application for a stay of the charges based on the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2016 Jordan ruling.

The ruling states that all provincial Supreme Court matters must be concluded within 30 months of the charges being sworn.

The Elphicke case is 32 months and 27 days old.

Crown prosecutor Patrick Fullerton pushed back against the application on procedural grounds, saying the defence filed the application with not-enough notice, nor did they inform the Attorney General’s of B.C. and Canada of the motion as required.

Fullerton also argued that the Crown prosecutor originally assigned to the trial fell ill, which forced the transfer of the file to Fullerton, resulting in some delay.

The judge noted that there were delays related to finding three weeks of trial time in the Penticton courthouse, offering the notes of the pretrial judges to the two sides to make sure everyone is arguing “from the same page.”

The judge added that he’s not going to dismiss the Jordan application yet, because the application hasn’t even been filed properly yet through the Attorney Generals.

The matter was adjourned until Thursday morning to give both sides time to prepare evidence.

Elphicke is facing charges of fraud and theft over $5,000 and unauthorized management of a lottery scheme in connection to the business dealings of the defunct Okanagan Elite Hockey Association.

The company is alleged to have collected about $128,000 from a group of parents for an overseas hockey trip that never took place as promised in 2012. The court previously heard that part of that money was spent on the failed hockey dorm project at the SOEC.

At the conclusion of the trial and prior to the application for a stay, the judge said he would be reserving judgement on the charges while he reviews evidence.

A Canada-wide warrant is out for the arrest of Elphicke's co-accused, Loren Reagan, who failed to show up for the start of the trial, he tells Castanet he's in Kuwait dealing with passport issues.