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‘A lot of talk’: warrants violated Patrik Mathews’ rights, lawyer argues

WASHINGTON — The lawyer for Patrik Mathews is trying to contest some of the evidence against the former Canadian Forces reservist and alleged neo-Nazi.
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Patrik Mathews is shown in an undated RCMP handout photo. The lawyer for Mathews is trying to contest some of the evidence against the former Canadian Forces reservist and alleged neo-Nazi. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-RCMP

WASHINGTON — The lawyer for Patrik Mathews is trying to contest some of the evidence against the former Canadian Forces reservist and alleged neo-Nazi.

Joseph Balter is also urging a Maryland judge to throw out two of the four charges faced by his client.

Mathews and his co-accused, Brian Lemley Jr., took part in a motions hearing today aimed at convincing District Court Judge Theodore Chuang to quash what they call prejudicial evidence.

Balter says much of the wiretap, email and location evidence is prejudicial against Mathews and that the search warrants violated his constitutional rights.

Mathews, a former combat engineer, vanished from Beausejour, Man., in 2019 following media reports alleging he was a recruiter for a white-supremacist group known as The Base.

He and Lemley have been in custody since January 2020. A third accused, William Bilbrough, pleaded guilty in December.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2021.