Judge reserves ruling on whether to throw out B.C. murder conviction over delays

The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has reserved her decision on whether to throw out the case against a man convicted of first-degree murder in a killing police have linked to organized crime.

Brandon Teixeira’s lawyers have filed a so-called Jordan application seeking a stay of the charges on the basis that delays in the case violated his Charter rights.

Justice Jennifer Duncan said Friday that she would schedule another hearing for Feb. 12, though she may be able to share the result with Crown prosecutors and defence counsel sooner, or she may need more time.

A jury convicted Teixeira of murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life last August in the October 2017 shooting death of 28-year-old Nicholas Khabra in Surrey, B.C.

Crown lawyer Dianne Wiedemann argued this week that Teixeira was partly responsible for delays after initially escaping police and fleeing to California, where he was living under an assumed name until his arrest in late 2019.

Teixeira’s lawyer, Vicki Williams, told the hearing in Vancouver that apart from two periods of time, including her client’s abscondment, no delays were attributable solely to his defence team in the case spanning nearly eight years.

The judge, Duncan, said her approach is to examine whether there were discrete events or complexity in the case amounting to exceptional circumstances under the Jordan ruling — on which Teixeira has based his application to have his case thrown out — that meant delays were outside the control of Crown prosecutors.

The court has heard Teixeira was arrested in Oroville, Calif., on Dec. 1, 2019, and extradited to Canada the following April to face trial.

If the court doesn’t grant Teixeira’s application to stay the charges against him, the BC Prosecution Service has said a date would be set for his sentencing hearing.

This report by Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press, was first published Jan. 9, 2026.