Canada Day bomb plot case back in court next month

The two Surrey residents accused of plotting to bomb the B.C. legislature on Canada Daymade a brief appearance in a Vancouver court this morning.

John Nuttall and Amanda Korody are charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, making or possessing an explosive device, conspiracy to place an explosive device with the intent to cause death or injury and conspiracy to murder persons unknown.

Their lawyer, Tom Morino, told the B.C. Supreme Court he can't act for both accused, and needs time to find another lawyer for Korody.

Morino is also concerned the Legal Services Society may not provide enough money to pay for the case.

He said it's impossible to estimate the cost or length of the trial because he has yet to receive any disclosure from the Crown.

The case is slated to be backin courton Aug. 7.

The pair also made a brief appearance in Surrey provincial court yesterday morning, where charges were stayed in favour of a direct indictment in B.C. Supreme Court.

• Canada Day bomb plot said to have elements of entrapment
• Canada Day plot suspects' friends mystified by allegations

Speaking outside the courtroom on Tuesday, Morino said there is little incentive for Nuttall or Korody to enter a plea in a terrorism case when the charges carry a mandatory life sentence.

Morino also alleged U.S. police forces were involved in the investigation and said the case has elements of entrapment.

Mike Mulligan, a criminal lawyer and former chair of the Canadian Bar Association's criminal section, says this could be a Mr. Big-style sting, where undercover police led the accused to believe they were working for a criminal organization.

"One of the important things to look at will be what exactly was the role of the RCMP, the people playing the role of these fictitious members of a criminal organization, and did they wind up doing more than providing an opportunity somebody to confess to an activity they were already involved in?"

Mulligansays determining whether police actually encouraged some sort of criminal activity will indicate whether it isa case of entrapment.

Improvised explosives

Nuttall, 38, and Korody, who is 28 or 29, are alleged to have turned ordinary pressure cookers into improvised explosive devices filled with rusted nails, nuts, bolts and washers.

Police have claimed the two were inspired by "al-Qaeda ideology," but say theres no evidence the two were acting "at the direction of a terror group."

But friends have expressed doubt the couple could have pulled off such a plot on their own.

Friends and neighbours describe the pair as exhibiting increasingly odd behaviour after converting to Islam about six months ago.

One friend told CBC News the pair was recently kicked out of a Surrey mosque, while a neighbour said she overheard Nuttall having a loud conversation on his cellphone in which he mentioned jihad.

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