(Ottawa) The general manager of Ottawa’s Protective and Emergency Services repeatedly walked away from the witness box, past rows of spectators and into the courthouse hallway, while his testimony in the trial of two organizers of the “freedom convoy” was interrupted several times on Tuesday.
Kim Ayotte, who oversees municipal bylaws, ambulance and fire services as well as special events, including during last year’s protests, was called as a witness to share his perspective on how the protest unfolded in during the three weeks.
Delays in her testimony, however, have led a defense lawyer to warn the court that she will have to consider asking for the case to be dismissed if the trial continues to be plagued by delays.
Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were arrested last year on February 17 in the final days of protests that took to the streets of Ottawa to oppose public health measures related to COVID-19.
They were co-accused of mischief and of counseling people to commit mischief and other offences.
The trial began on September 5 and was scheduled to last 16 days. However, progress has been slow, and the court has so far only completed testimony from three witnesses.
The original timeline now seems all but impossible as the judge schedules additional trial dates in October and November.
Mr. Barber’s lawyer, Diane Magas, says that if the delays continue, she will have to consider filing for the Jordan ruling, which states that anyone accused of a crime has the right to be tried in a court of law. reasonable delay.
“We have an obligation, if there is an issue, to raise it as soon as possible so that the Crown can respond appropriately,” Mr.e Magas, outside the court.
The time limit for assessing whether the duration of a trial is reasonable is generally 18 months after the arrest, but in the case of Mme Lich and Mr. Barber, part of the delay is attributable to the defense.
This makes the delay a “moving target” in this case, said Mr.e Magas, because it is still unclear when the trial will actually end.
Testimony interrupted
Mr. Ayotte’s testimony was repeatedly interrupted as he appeared unable to answer specific questions about his observations and actions during the convoy without referring to texts, WhatsApp messages, emails and Teams chats with his staff.
None of these communications were obtained by the Crown or disclosed to the defence.
Mr Ayotte arrived in court without the notes he had taken throughout the “convoy” demonstration and told the court he did not think he would need them to refresh his memory during his testimony.
While he was able to share a general account of his actions and recall the dates of certain meetings, more detailed questions about specific dates and times remained unanswered.
He told the court he had taken about three walks around the protest area but could not remember the dates.
He testified under oath before a federal inquiry into the government’s use of the Emergencies Act last year, saying he had only taken one walk. M’s lawyerme Lich, Lawrence Greenspon, discussed that nothing regarding the extra walks was disclosed to the defense.
“This is another witness for whom the expansion of his evidence is not accompanied by appropriate disclosure,” Mr.e Greenspon.
The court recessed for a few minutes early Tuesday afternoon so that the Crown could consider its options in light of Ms.e Stores.
However, the lawyers were able to put one question aside for the moment: the admissibility of the publications and videos from the “Freedom Convoy 2022” Facebook page.
The Crown says it plans to use the messages to argue that Mr. Barber and Ms.me Lich worked so closely together during the protest that evidence against one of them should apply to both.
The defense had planned to object to the inclusion of content from the Facebook page, arguing that posts that were not written directly by Mme Lich or Mr. Barber themselves were irrelevant.
M’s lawyersme Lich and Mr. Barber have now agreed to admit the posts into evidence, but said they will present their arguments on the conspiracy claim issue post-by-post at the end of the trial.
Mr. Ayotte was invited to return to the courthouse on Wednesday to continue his testimony.