Freedom Convoy activist Pat King has not complied with previous court conditions, so he shouldn’t be let out of custody, said the Crown lawyer at his bail hearing Friday..Defence lawyer, W. Calvin Rosemond, asked that King — an Albertan who was charged by Ottawa police with mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to disobey court order, and counselling to obstruct police — be granted bail during a hearing in Ottawa..After the hearing, the judge denied bail to King based on his likelihood to re-offend and possible harm to the perception of the justice system..He will remain in jail with his next court date expected to be on March 18..During his bail hearing, the Crown brought up King’s previous alleged illegal handgun purchasing as evidence against him..Crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee brought up evidence, including King’s “uttering threats” charges from 2016..The incident lead to King surrendering his rifle to police, but Karimjee says King purchased a “restricted” handgun two days later..In 2017, the threat charge was resolved with the condition for King not to own firearms, yet it’s alleged he was still in possession of the restricted handgun..“Therefore, he has been in possession of a restricted firearm, a handgun, in contravention of the law, since then,” said Karimjee..Karimjee said the previous cases are “significantly relevant” to show King may not follow conditions if released on bail..Karimjee brought up King’s recent online statements referring to the Freedom Convoy which will “end with bullets.”.Karimjee said the new evidence also doesn’t affect or change the Crown’s case..Rosemond argued the evidence was not hidden and the Crown had previous opportunity to bring it up..“These issues were perfectly foreseeable,” he said..“There is no reason from the filed materials — other than state negligence — for why these materials were not filed earlier..“This is some third party that’s assisting the Crown, that’s I guess watching the news or something like that … and that’s how it’s coming forward.”.Rosemond argued the case should not be reopened and King should be let out on bail..“While the rules of evidence at bail are relaxed, they certainly still exist,” he said..“We have an innocent person in custody, a presumptuously innocent person.”.The proposition to approve more evidence was eventually denied by the judge..The Crown has proposed King be barred from speaking with Convoy organizers like Tamara Lich, Benjamin Ditcher and Daniel Bulford..King had a large social media presence throughout the three weeks of the Freedom Convoy 2022, giving him the reputation of a spokesperson..Top organizers never confirmed Pat King was an official part of the protest..Ewa Sudyk is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.esudyk@westernstandardonline.com
