TORONTO

Lawyers attempting to gain access to more than 40 documents related to the Project Traveller drug raids say Crown attorneys are taking too much time sifting through the material which could expose further links to Mayor Rob Ford.

Lawyer Peter Jacobsen, who represents media companies including the Toronto Sun, said he has been asking for the release of information to obtain a warrant for the Project Traveller raids since July and Crown attorneys have been slow to respond. The raids have links to the drug controversy swirling around the mayor since May.

On Monday in court, Jacobsen told Justice Ian Nordheimer that there are larger issues at play than the mayor and his drug use.

He repeated that call outside court.

“There is a serious issue here about oversight,” he said. “While the Crown wants to portray our position as one that only relates to Mayor Ford, in fact there is a good deal more we have been raising with the court about oversight.

“The public has a right to know what information the police are putting before judges to get these search warrants.”

Jacobsen said disclosure of the documents to media lawyers would enable them to pick out the most pertinent information and ask for its release. That would limit the work of Crown attorneys as they attempt to black out sensitive information not eligible for public release, he said.

“The media doesn’t want to waste the court’s time chasing information that is not in the public interest,” he said.

But assistant Crown attorney Jeffrey Levy told the court the large volume of work is sensitive. Once it’s released publicly, it can’t be taken back, he noted. The large number of confidential informants police used to gather intelligence on the case could also be put in jeopardy if the documents aren’t vetted properly, he said.

“If you don’t do it right, people could die,” Levy said.

But Nordheimer challenged Levy on the delays, saying that beyond his concern for media seeking the information, there are people charged with offences who don’t know the case against them.

“It has been five months since the take down on this project,” Nordheimer said. “That is a long time to have no disclosure.”

Nordheimer adjourned the proceedings to consider several motions which could result in the release of the documents, but gave no date to expect his ruling.