B.C. judge calls court delays scandalous

A man accused of assaulting a police officer, leading police in a stolen truck chase and dealing drugs has escaped prosecution over what a B.C. judge calls a scandalous trial delay.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan acquitted Michael Ellis saying the consequences of government decisions have seriously impaired the provincial court's ability to schedule longer trials.

Ellis waited in jail for 31 months while six charges slowly moved forward.

In his ruling released Monday, McEwan noted that Ellis spent so much of his time waiting for trial that he was already in the range of possible sentencing for the offences, if he had been found guilty.

Ellis was arrested March 2009 in Kettle Valley, in southeastern B.C., after he allegedly rammed a police officer's vehicle with a stolen pickup truck.

Dozens of cases have been thrown out of provincial courtsover the past several months because a lack of judges and court staff has delayed getting the accused to trial.