After being moved to a larger courtroom to accommodate the more than 60 people attending the trial, the proceedings of Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber began Tuesday morning..The Ontario Court of Justice trial will examine charges against Lich and Barber’s of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a police officer and counselling others to commit the same offences. It is a judge-alone trial, meaning there will be no jury. The court decided not to provide a video link of the proceedings..The court, overseen by Justice Heather Perkins-McVey, heard from the first witness, Craig Barlow, Ontario Police Services (OPS) Constable..The prosecution, Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee, had asked Barlow to provide a video compilation of Surete du Quebec (SDQ) police body cam footage from the Ottawa protest, and he presented an 11-minute montage of 38 clips — however, the crown requested further video evidence, in the form of five additional clips of approximately 30 seconds each..The defence argued against it, leading the justice to call a voir dire, or 'trial within a trial,' but it was found to be admissible and the crown finally showed seven new clips in total..John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, told the Western Standard the new footage would be shown if it is admissible.."It depends whether the evidence is admissible, yes or no,” Carpay said..“The onus is on the Crown to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the actions committed were a criminal offence. They have to prove if the actions were intentional, and that they were actually carried out.”.Meanwhile, Barlow stated he did not know why the Crown wanted this extra footage..“They seemed unremarkable to me,” he said..Lawrence Greenspon, Tamara Lich’s counsel, said that the footage was from February 19, 2022 — after the defendants were arrested. He also pointed out that each of the additional clips contain the infamous phrase, “Hold the line,” which, he asserted, is why the Crown put forth the motion to add the clips to the evidence..“My view of the seven clips is that they all happen to have unknown people saying ‘Hold the line,’” Greenspon said..Barlow responded that it “never crossed [his] mind.”.Diane Magas, counsel for Barber, said Barlow watched hundreds of hours of footage to make the compilation video, yet he did not include clips of “people hugging, kids playing on the streets, [and] bouncy castles.”.“None of that is in the video,” the lawyer said, before asking Barlow if he saw any evidence of police officers using violence, such as “punching a man in the head for no apparent reason.”.Barlow said he did not — yet after being shown drone footage of a police officer striking a protestor with their knee while another officer holds the person in a headlock, he admitted he saw an officer “striking” a protestor..Magas also showed a video of an officer climbing over a cement barricade and striking a protester over the head..The court closed deliberating a bail variation pertaining to Lich. As it stands, Lich is forbidden to be in downtown Ottawa without her lawyer present, and her counsel is arguing for her to be allowed to go out on her own..“I think the Crown is making themselves look bad,” Carpay said..“Everyone can see she’s a peaceful woman, not a threat to anyone to be out walking around.”
After being moved to a larger courtroom to accommodate the more than 60 people attending the trial, the proceedings of Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber began Tuesday morning..The Ontario Court of Justice trial will examine charges against Lich and Barber’s of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a police officer and counselling others to commit the same offences. It is a judge-alone trial, meaning there will be no jury. The court decided not to provide a video link of the proceedings..The court, overseen by Justice Heather Perkins-McVey, heard from the first witness, Craig Barlow, Ontario Police Services (OPS) Constable..The prosecution, Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee, had asked Barlow to provide a video compilation of Surete du Quebec (SDQ) police body cam footage from the Ottawa protest, and he presented an 11-minute montage of 38 clips — however, the crown requested further video evidence, in the form of five additional clips of approximately 30 seconds each..The defence argued against it, leading the justice to call a voir dire, or 'trial within a trial,' but it was found to be admissible and the crown finally showed seven new clips in total..John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, told the Western Standard the new footage would be shown if it is admissible.."It depends whether the evidence is admissible, yes or no,” Carpay said..“The onus is on the Crown to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the actions committed were a criminal offence. They have to prove if the actions were intentional, and that they were actually carried out.”.Meanwhile, Barlow stated he did not know why the Crown wanted this extra footage..“They seemed unremarkable to me,” he said..Lawrence Greenspon, Tamara Lich’s counsel, said that the footage was from February 19, 2022 — after the defendants were arrested. He also pointed out that each of the additional clips contain the infamous phrase, “Hold the line,” which, he asserted, is why the Crown put forth the motion to add the clips to the evidence..“My view of the seven clips is that they all happen to have unknown people saying ‘Hold the line,’” Greenspon said..Barlow responded that it “never crossed [his] mind.”.Diane Magas, counsel for Barber, said Barlow watched hundreds of hours of footage to make the compilation video, yet he did not include clips of “people hugging, kids playing on the streets, [and] bouncy castles.”.“None of that is in the video,” the lawyer said, before asking Barlow if he saw any evidence of police officers using violence, such as “punching a man in the head for no apparent reason.”.Barlow said he did not — yet after being shown drone footage of a police officer striking a protestor with their knee while another officer holds the person in a headlock, he admitted he saw an officer “striking” a protestor..Magas also showed a video of an officer climbing over a cement barricade and striking a protester over the head..The court closed deliberating a bail variation pertaining to Lich. As it stands, Lich is forbidden to be in downtown Ottawa without her lawyer present, and her counsel is arguing for her to be allowed to go out on her own..“I think the Crown is making themselves look bad,” Carpay said..“Everyone can see she’s a peaceful woman, not a threat to anyone to be out walking around.”