Yellowknife (Feb 25/04) - Yellowknife (Feb 25/04) - The Top Knight bar, a favourite watering hole for high-level government officials and politicians, emerged unscathed from a hearing, Wednesday, amid questions about the Justice Department's handling of the case.

The surprise move came a week after co-owner Gordon Wray complained bitterly about what he called harassment by liquor inspectors.

The bar was originally scheduled to appear before the Liquor Licensing Board on a charge of allowing drunkenness on the bar's premises after an inspector spotted an intoxicated patron in the 49th Street nightspot on Dec. 19, 2003.

Justice Department attorney Brian Asmundson announced, Wednesday, the charge was being withdrawn "following further investigation."

"New evidence has come to light and we have (decided to) exercise discretion," Asmundson told the board.

During the original inspection of the bar, a liquor inspector noted Top Knight employees served an intoxicated patron a glass of wine and placed his jacket behind the bar; a violation of the NWT Liquor Act.

But the follow-up investigation -- which to date, justice officials have refused to discuss -- found instead the man had been served a glass of water and not a glass of wine.

Instead of facing a fine or possible closure, Asmundson said the Top Knight would be sent a letter of reprimand.

Mystery investigation

The follow up investigation has raised questions about the Justice Department's involvement in the case.

Normally, all secondary inquiries are handled by the liquor board's co-ordinator of enforcement, but that's not what happened in this case, said John Simpson, Chair of the Liquor Licensing Board.

"To my knowledge, no one from the enforcement branch did any further investigation in this case," he said.

That raises the question: Who conducted the follow-up investigation and when?

The Top Knight case was originally scheduled to appear before the board on Feb. 11, but lawyers for the bar asked for and were granted an adjournment.

At the time, Asmundson did not a mention a secondary investigation into the incident.

That suggests the investigation occurred during the last two weeks, sparking unanswered questions about how justice officials could be certain the glass in question held water and not wine -- a full two months after the incident.

What's more, the liquor board's chief investigator has been on medical leave for at least the last two weeks, suggesting someone outside the board conducted the follow-up investigation.

Following the Wednesday hearing, Asmundson refused to answer questions on the file, including who did the secondary investigation and who made the decision to drop the case. "I would have to refer (those questions) to Justice," he said.

Yellowknifer was unable to obtain a copy of the case file.

The Justice Department decision to drop the charge raised the eyebrows of several members of the Liquor Licensing Board.

"We were prepared (to adjudicate it)," said chair John Simpson, who heard for the first time the case would not be going ahead Tuesday night.

While cases are routinely dropped due to lack of evidence, Simpson said it's the first time during his six years on the board that a case has been abandoned on the day of a hearing.

Wray said the charges shouldn't have been laid in the first place.

"It cost me several days of profit to deal with the charges and for what?" said Wray, who did not attend the hearing. "Bars are already in severe trouble... and they can't afford to spend money fighting these kind of charges."

Workers at the Top Knight and Black Knight would not serve someone who is intoxicated, said Wray.

"We'd let them sit down and give them some water or a cup of coffee while we call them a cab," said Wray. "But we're not going to hoof them out into the street at 40-below."

Questions of favouritism

The about-face by the Justice Department sparked allegations of potential favouritism by a lawyer for the Gold Range, which was before the liquor board facing the same charge Thursday morning.

"There is a live concern that (the Gold Range) will not be treated fairly," said Austin Marshall. "There is a great concern that things outside of the board have influenced the proceedings."

Marshall declined to elaborate any further until he reviewed a transcript of the Top Knight proceedings. The board granted him an adjournment until March 19.

Following Marshall's allegations, Simpson insisted the Justice Department, not the liquor board, made the decision to withdraw the Top Knight charges.

"We can only decide what comes before us," said Simpson.

Two other bars made appearances before the liquor board earlier this week. The board found there was no cause of action against the Raven Night Club, which was charged with overcrowding.

Le Frolic was closed for one day and ordered to provide server training for all its employees. A patron had passed out and knocked his head on the ground after having nearly 10 drinks.