The third day of hearings into the trial involving the Coutts Trio saw revelations into what led charges to be laid against its members. The Crown attorney had closing questions for former Coutts mayor Jimmy Willet. “Cross examination commenced with all defence lawyers getting the opportunity to question Mr. Willet,” tweeted Coutts Trio member Marco Van Huigenbos on Thursday. “The focus of cross examination was to get as accurate a timeline from the witness on the events of the blockade.”.The Coutts Trio consists of Van Huigenbos, George Janzen and Alex Van Herk. They have been charged with mischief over $5,000. Van Huigenbos said Willet was excused by the court before the lunch break. After lunch, Van Huigenbos said a note was received by the court from a juror. The juror said the two Crown attorneys were hammering away on their keyboards too hard and were distracting the jurors. He raised concerns with the Crown sending emails during court. Crown attorney Steve Johnston said he was unimpressed and this problem would be resolved if the Alberta government purchased better laptops. Johnston asked the justice to explain to the jurors they would attempt to be less loud and that all work during court was in relation to these proceedings. The Crown called RCMP Sgt. Rebecca Dingle as its next witness, as she was part of the Serious Crimes Investigative Team in Airdrie. The Crown used Dingle to establish the license plates, registry and who owned the trucks. He acknowledged this testimony was left open-ended and suspects the court will hear more from Dingle on this matter at a later date. She was excused by the court. The third witness was RCMP Staff Sgt. Mark Wielgosz, who played a significant role in Coutts in one of the Community Conflict Management Groups. Wielgosz was on the stand for most of the afternoon until court was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. He will continue to testify at a later day. “This is obviously a very short version of what was a long and fairly intense day,” said Van Huigenbos. The trials into the Coutts Border Blockade took a drastic turn for Van Huigenbos on March 27. READ MORE: UPDATED: Coutts Trio member says he's been banned from Coutts Four court hearingsHe said he has been banned from attending court proceedings into the Coutts Four case. “They can ban me from the courtroom, but they will have to lock me away to shut me up,” he said.
