The amount of time it has taken for the case of a man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a South Vancouver business owner to come to trial could be an issue.
Mohammed Abu-Sharife was charged after a shooting that left 30-year-old Amin Shahin Shakur dead July 13, 2020.
The charges came after a Vancouver Police Department investigation into the city's eighth homicide of 2020. Officers responded to 911 calls about shots being fired near Main Street and East 48th Avenue that night.
The community responded to Shakur's death with an outpouring of support and a candlelight vigil. In the days following the fatal shooting, loved ones remembered Shakur, who was a founder of specialty snack shop Dank Mart and dispensary THC Canada on Main Street, as hard-working, kind and positive — "a hood legend" who had earned the moniker of "Snackie Chan."
On Sept. 28, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carla Forth heard the length of timing from charge to trial is becoming excessive and exceeding the so-called Jordan requirements. Those are guidelines set by the Supreme Court of Canada that a provincial case must be heard within 18 months.
The Abu-Sharife case is now beyond that but courts have been taking pandemic delays into consideration.
The judge heard the case could take 20 days with 51 witnesses.
Also, a statement made by Abu-Sharife to police could be contentious as well as a DNA warrant and the seizure of cellphones.
Abu-Sharife is not in custody.
