By: Dirk Meissner, THE CANADIAN PRESS

VICTORIA - A coroner's inquest looking into the actions of a man who killed his family before turning a knife on himself was adjourned indefinitely Wednesday over an issue the Crown says sends chills through Canada's legal system.

The inquest has heard grisly testimony about the stabbing deaths of Peter Lee, his wife, his six-year-old son and his in-laws but it is now on hold because jurors want to hear from Crown prosecutors.

The Crown, however, is preparing to fight the request in court.

Stan Lowe, a spokesman for the B.C. Crown, said outside the inquest Wednesday that the integrity of the legal system is at stake.

"The concern here is the chilling effect on the Crown counsel service," Lowe said. "It's important that we be able to arrive at our decisions fairly and independently."

He said individual Crown lawyers could become more conservative in their decisions if they know they may be called to testify about them.

"We have to protect the legal system," he said.

Jurors had asked to hear evidence from Ruth Picha and Laura Ford, the Crown prosecutors involved with the family after Lee crashed his Land Rover into a hydro pole in July 2007 in what police believed was a deliberate attempt to harm his wife.

Earlier in the two-week inquest, the inquest heard testimony from Jennifer Power, the regional Crown for Vancouver Island.

On Wednesday, a Crown prosecutor for the criminal justice branch of B.C.'s Ministry for the Attorney General testified for almost six hours.

The two officials discussed how decisions are made in what charge a suspect will face, and what conditions of bail should be considered if an offender is released from custody.

The Lee case has been controversial because the man was on out on bail when he murdered his six-year-old son Christian, his wife Sunny Park, and her parents Kum Lea Chun and Moon Kyu Park.

Inquest jurors have watched a video-taped interview between police and Sunny Park after the accident in which she said she fears her husband.

On the tape, she said her husband had beat her in the past and had threatened to kill her and her family if she proceeded with plans to divorce him.

Lee was charged with unlawfully causing bodily harm and dangerous driving causing bodily harm after the accident.

The Crown did not oppose Lee's release on bail even though Victoria Police recommended he be held in custody. Lee was ordered to stay away from Park and her family.

The inquest has also heard that although Lee violated his bail conditions, the violations weren't considered serious enough to revoke bail.

Lee broke into the family home five weeks after the car crash, on Sept. 4, 2007, and carried out the murder-suicide. He was supposed to be in court later that day to discuss his bail issues.

A transcript of a harrowing 911 call from the Lee home at 3:06 a.m. was provided to the inquest, but the audio version, where Park's elderly mother is screaming for help, was not included in the evidence.

Richard Peck, the lawyer for the criminal justice branch of the attorney general's ministry, told the inquiry Wednesday that prosecutors have immunity from having to publicly explain their decisions.

Peck noted such immunity has been endorsed by the Supreme Court of Canada.

He said he will recall Power to the inquest and provide responses to other any other questions the jurors may have, but he opposes forcing Picha and Ford to the inquest.

But coroner Jeff Dolan said since jurors made the request to hear from the two Crown lawyers involved in the case, he didn't want to be seen to be granting special privileges to any group or person.

He ruled the two should testify.

John Orr, the lawyer for the inquest, said outside the hearing that Ford and Picha's testimony wouldn't undermine the legal system because coroner's inquests aren't fault-finding exercises.

The jurors just want to hear from these Crown prosecutors because "there is factual evidence that they need to give that we can't get elsewhere."

In the end, Dolan agreed to halt the inquest until the issue, which has come up in another inquest in Vancouver, can be heard by a court.

The issue also arose at the Vancouver inquiry into the death of an aboriginal man in December 1998.

Frank Paul froze to death after police refused to admit him to the city drunk tank and instead left him in an alley.

The officers received one-and two-day suspensions.

Inquiry Commissioner William Davies wants five prosecutors to provide information on what procedures they followed in not recommending charges in Paul's death.

But the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch has asked a judge to review Davies' ruling. The matter is to be heard later this month.

Peck said he expects the two Victoria Crown prosecutors to become part of the hearing, set for May 26 in Vancouver.

Earlier Wednesday, an official with the criminal justice branch said the chance of a domestic abuse incident in B.C. resulting in criminal charges is nearing 100 per cent.

Crown prosecutor Melissa Gillespie told the inquest that the charge-approval rate for domestic abuse cases hit 98 per cent this year, compared to 82 per cent for all other criminal matters.

About 10,000 domestic abuse cases come before the Crown each year in British Columbia, Gillespie said.

But she didn't comment directly on other justice issues being examined at the inquest.

"There is no simple answer when you are dealing with the application of the charge-assessment standard," she said in response to questions from lawyer Diane Turner, who is representing victims of domestic violence groups.