In an unexpected and dramatic move on Monday, Justin Bone stood up in court and fired his defence lawyer.
It isn’t the first time he’s done that.
Bone is on trial for second-degree murder in the deaths of Ban Phuc Hoang and Hung Trang, who were were fatally attacked at their workplaces in Chinatown on the afternoon of May 18th, 2022.
Both men worked near each other in the area directly north of downtown: Hoang at Universal Electronics and Trang at Albert’s Autobody Shop.
The trial in the deaths began last week.
On Monday, Bone stood in court and told the justice he is ready to remove his counsel.
“I am not satisfied with is work that he is doing with his cross-examination,” Bone said.
Bone was next to his lawyer David Wolsey when he made the declaration. After he dismissed Wolsey, Bone was taken into the prisoner’s box.
Court was adjourned for three hours and Bone was taken into a holding cell.
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He started yelling and swearing and Wolsey went to speak with him. The accused continued to yell and scream.
Bone is no stranger to this type of courtroom drama.
He has dismissed Wolsey three times since 2022, and two other lawyers as well.
An amicus, which is a court-appointed lawyer, has been sitting in on the trial in case this happened. The role is to ensure the trial is fair and that it can continue.
After the break, Bone refused to return to court — which will resume on Tuesday. At this point, it’s not clear who will be representing him.
The judge said the best outcome is for Wolsey to continue as counsel and that what happened Monday morning will have no consequence on determining the ultimate result of this trial.
“He has a right to be in this trial,” Justice Paul Belzil said. “No one has the right to disrupt a trial, and we have to strike a proper balance here.”
Christina Trang is the daughter of Hung Trang. She said it has been difficult watching the trial, and Bone firing his lawyer makes it harder.
“I’m still processing all that,” Christina said. “For that moment to happen was hard to describe, I just didn’t think I’d hear that.”
She said the whole past week has been incredibly hard for her family, and sitting through the process brings up emotions no one is ever truly prepared for.
“The road to justice has already been long, disappointing, and heartbreaking — almost four years of delays, uncertainty, and unnecessary pain for both families affected by this double homicide.”
Christina also acknowledged the support her family has received. The parents of Brian Ilesic — one of three G4S guards fatally shot by their co-worker Travis Baumgartner inside the U of A’s HUB Mall in 2012 — came to court to support the victims.
She said they are working on bringing awareness to Bill C-243, which aims to reduce how often families are pulled back into parole processes.
“It doesn’t really help us heal in a space that is healthy if we have to do this year after year,” Christina said.
Trang plans to be in court every day of the Bone trial, and hopes her dad and the Hoang gets justice.
“We want to make sure that the victims, you know, being my father and Mr. Hoang, just to make sure that they get their dignity, the accountability for what has happened,” she said.
“They sacrificed their life and should get the justice they deserve.”
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