Man jailed for contempt of Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter adangelo@usnews.com A Coquitlam man charged with obstruct- ing justice in connection with a 1997 movie the- atre shooting was jailed six months for refusing to be sworn as a wit- ness, Kamran Mojtahedpour, 23, was a friend of Michael Caster. Caster was convicted in 1999 of the planned shooting of Mo Mirhadh ins a crowded movie theatre on Feb. 28, 1997. Police believed at feast) four people were involved in) the murder plot. Caster’s Moroury, co-accused Jon 22, of | West Vancouver, was acquitted of first degree murder (aiding and abetting) on Dee. 21 after more than four weeks ofa jury tial in New Westminster. Mojtahedpour was called as a Crown witness. He was uncooperative and = Crown lawvers did not pursue testi- mony. Moroury’s legal aid defence lawyer Glen Orris exercised his option to. call Mojtahedpour as a witness. On Dee. 8, Mojtahedpour took several minutes to respond to being paged to the courtroom. Casually dressed and holding a black umbreila, Mojtahedpour went to stand in the witness box. He refused to take an oath tu swear to tell the truth and be a witness. The jury was not present. “Your Lordship, 1 stand on the same grounds as fast time,” sid = Mojtahedpour. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Randall Wong asked for his reasons. “None that [ would like to discuss,” said) Mojtahedpuur. The judge ordered him jailed until he consented to be sworn. Mojtahedpour gave his umbrella to a sheriff and glared at_otwo) North Vancouver Mounties sitting in the public gallery as he went out the pris- one’s door, Mojrahedpour Smoking snitch line ridiculed From page 1 waitresses who want to work in a smoking environment can work in a smoking environ- ment,” he said. “It’s our understanding that it’s not a customer thing, it’s an employee thing,” said Queen’s Cross pub owner Dave Crown. Crown said the Queen's Cross would be posting notices advising customers the pub was a non-smoking envi- ronment, but that if they lit up, they would be provided with an ashtray. Crown —- a non-smoker himself — referred to the ban as “the stupidest regulation I’ve ever heard of. It pits cus- tomers against us and against each other. The WCB has dic- tated to us, not listened to us,” Crown said. “f don’t like being used as a guinea pig for the rest of Canada.” Crown and Bradley were both astounded by the notion of a WCB “snitch line.” “It’s like Big Brother all over again,” said Bradley, who speculated that it would only encourage rival business own- ers to inform on each other. Crown said the hotline was “ludicrous.” Arbuthnot said the WCB had ignored his group's sug- gestion of a new ventilation system in pubs, and announced a policy of “zero tolerance” for smoking in Bell picked as North NORTH Vancouver District Mayor Don Bell has been chosen as the new North Shore TransLink representa- tive. Bell was voted in at a joint meeting of the North Shore Transit Region in District council chambers Wednesday. The meeting was attended by councillors from North Vancouver City and District, West Vancouver District, Lions Bay and Bowen Island. Each municipality was given equal voting weight despite attempts by North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist to institute propor- tional representation. Crist said that giving the same amount of votes to a -community the size of Lions Bay; with 1,500 residents, as the 85,000-strong North Vancouver District was unde- mocratic. However, his motion to adjust voting procedures was not successful. “Crist also said that the dis- cussion of regionally-specific transit issues was of the utmost importance. He listed bus depots, ' increased autonomy for the _ North Shore region, and the development of the Sea to Sky . corridor as key concerns to be | addressed. Bell will now meet monthly with other TransLink represen- tatives. “Crist said he hoped Bell would be more accountable than his ‘predecessor, former North Vancouver City Mayor Jack Loucks. “The accountability from Loucks was zilch,” said Crist. “He never reported back on TransLink meetings and he just did what they wanted him to. “We need to meet regularly on the North Shore and put forward what we want. We may not get it but at least we licensed establishments. “You can't have zero toler- ance,” Arbuthnot _ insists. “There’s a tolerable level of every toxic substance, from asbestos to welding gas. “Imagine if there was zero tolerance in logging or paint- ing. How would you ever paint a car?” Arbuthnot said the risk attached to working in the hospitality industry had dropped by 10% over the last year, and was no higher than working in a furniture store. “It’s like anything else. If the employees are aware of it and comfortable with it, then it’s their decision whether or no they want to serve a cus- tomer who’s smoking.” “Obviously smoking is bad for your health,” said Crown, “but so is eating at McDonald's and drinking beer.” Arbuthnot — said the Washington, DC, analyst who produced a report on second- hand smoke for the WCB, is “the number one anti-smok- ing lobbyist in North America. “It’s biased. It’s gone past worker safety.” He said the province . is being hypocritical in banning smoking indoors yet continu- ing to allow the sale of tobac- co —adding that B.C. has just gone to great lengths to attract tourists by relaxing what he referred to as its “asi- nine” liquor licensing laws. Shore TransLink rep can fight for it.” To press time, Mayor Bell BUILDER/CONTRACTOR CUSTOM HOMES PHONE 298-1 222 16 Years (mt an Experience E lly Warrantied Visit our website: www.chrisdalehomes.com CHRISDALE HOMES LTD. CAR AnD TRUCK RANTALS : “any car, “any time: ait oT Noah, ,Mion. reserve earty to avoid dissapoinement S1O-CONS (22 (2277), rine Dr. Ya NOt Shore owned & eh ppee | piel ap & ‘drop “8 i was unavailable for comment. — Katharine Hamer court was kept in jail for 13 days dur- ing the remainder of the trial, retusing to be sworn, The day his acquaintance, Moroury, was acquitted of murder and walked out of court, Mojtahedpour — was jailed for six months for con- tempt of court. 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