Finkle subpoena in Baltovich case quashed as "a fishing expedition"

Derek Finkle, lately the editor of Toro magazine (or is that, the editor of the late Toro?) has won his case in court to quash a Crown subpoena for all his notes made in pursuit of his 1998 book No Claim to Mercy about the murder of Elizabeth Bain, in 1990. Prosecutors wanted to use Finkle's research as preparation for the retrial of Robert Baltovich, accused of murdering Bain in 1990 (she was his girlfriend). That retrial is to begin this fall. The notes and tapes included interviews with key witnesses in the case and material directly from Baltovich, including a prison memoir and Christmas cards to Finkle as well as letters to the editor written in response to an article about the case.

Baltovich was convicted of second degree murder and served 8 years before being paroled in 2000 because his defence team convinced the court that new information pointed to the possibility of his innocence and to the convicted murderer Paul Bernardo instead.

In his ruling, according to a CBC story, Judge David Watt said that the subpoena was "a fishing expedition".

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) have said how pleased they are that the subpoena, which Finkle was opposing vigorously (with much support from the magazine and writing community generally), was quashed.