Court rules appointment of Bountiful prosecutor unlawful

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that the British Columbia Attorney General lacked authority to appoint a new special prosecutor to consider and prosecute criminal charges of practicing polygamy against Winston Blackmore and James Oler, members of the community of Bountiful, British Columbia. The Attorney General previously appointed a special prosecutor who concluded that no criminal charges should be laid as there was not a substantial likelihood of conviction, and recommended that the public interest was best served by a reference to the B.C. Court of Appeal regarding the constitutional validity of the Criminal Code provision dealing with polygamy. The Attorney General appointed a new special prosecutor as he disagreed with those conclusions, and Mr. Blackman and Mr. Oler were arrested in 2009 and charged with breach of the Criminal Code provision. It was alleged that Mr. Blackmore was married to 19 women and Mr. Oler was married to three women.