Image Credit: Cliff MacArthur/provincialcourt.bc.ca

A BC defence lawyer who made "totally unfounded allegations" against Crown prosecutors, alleging they fabricated evidence in a child abuse case, has been suspended for a month.

According to a July 10 Law Society of BC decision, Terrace-based lawyer Timothy D. Klaassen accused the Crown of "making stuff up out of thin air" and then repeated his allegations even though the judge asked him to justify his comments.

The case dates back to 2018 when Klaassen was representing a client charged with sexual touching of a child under 16 years along with child pornography charges.

During the course of the court proceedings, the Crown prosecutor made statements to the court about a psychiatrist's report and the children's ages.

However, the statement was incorrect as the report had been done by a psychologist, not a psychiatrist, and the ages were different.

Klaassen then accused the Crown prosecutor of fabricating evidence.

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The decision says the defence lawyer tried to have the charges thrown out or a retrial ordered saying the Crown's "fabricated" evidence was prejudicial to his client.

The Judge dismissed his argument saying it was a "fair and reasonable statement" and clearly a misstatement and not a lie.

"Judge Wright invited (Klaassen) to recharacterize the Crown Misstatement as a misstatement and not a lie, but (he) declined to do so," the decision reads.

The decision says the interpersonal dealings between the two lawyers were "challenging."

At one point the judge told the lawyers it was obvious they were not getting along and told them to conduct themselves properly.

It's not clear what happened to the accused but in 2020 the Crown prosecution service complained to the regulator about Klaassen's behaviour.

The Law Society said Klaassen crossed the line with his comments.

"They were the product of the frustration they felt during the proceedings for the child pornography charges, as (Klaassen) believed Crown Counsel repeatedly misstated their position, including in documents filed with the court," the Law Society said in the decision. "However... (he) had no reasonable basis for stating Crown Counsel fabricated evidence."

Klaassen has since admitted to his behaviour and apologized to the Crown, the decision says.

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The Law Society says he has been practicing since 1995 and has one previous disciplinary action from 2014.

"However, the conduct under review was like the professional misconduct at issue now," the Law Society said. "(He) made unwarranted, discourteous and offensive remarks to opposing counsel, accusing him in court of misleading the court and of being a liar."

The decision doesn't say what punishment the defence lawyer received for this, but he did promise that he wouldn't do it again.

For this misconduct, Klaassen accepted a one-month suspension and was ordered to pay $1,000 costs.

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