Pat King bail matter getting under way now. Crown is the same as Lich, Moiz Karimjee. This is before Justice of the Peace Andrew Seymour. Waiting for defence counsel to join virtually.
(Justice of the Peace Andrew Seymour is a former Ottawa Citizen crime reporter.)
Court will recess until 10 am to allow counsel Cal Rosemont (sp?) from Toronto to communicate with King.
(I worked with Andrew at the Citizen but had lost touch and wasn't sure what he was up to... and there he is, in robes, on the bench. Huh.)
For those asking, I can't share the Zoom link publicly because there are concerns about bogging down the system. But anyone can attend the hearing and observe at Elgin St. courthouse, court #12.
Pat King is represented by Calvin Rosemond (not Rosemont), from Toronto. roylelaw.ca/lawyers/w-calv…
Waiting to hear otherwise from JoP Seymour but, so far, no word of a publication ban on King hearing. But his counsel could request one, so I'd have to stop tweeting.
And while we wait for hearing to resume, it appears that Pat King is in the court, wearing a grey hoodie, white pants and a blue mask.
First order of business is for counsel Robert Guerts and James Gilbert (who are present virtually) to be removed from the record, giving way to Cal Rosemond.
JoP Seymour is reminding of court rules and prohibition against recording or capturing images, live streamting etc. (Seymour spent most of his journalism career covering courts and crime, so he knows these rules well. )
And we are ready to proceed with King bail hearing. Crown Moiz Karimjee says he is seeking ongoing detention of King. This looks like it will be a lengthy hearing. Rosemond brings up King's proposed surety, who is...
...Carrie Joe-Lee Comex (phonetically). No clue.
"Kerry" not Carrie. I don't know who this person is. Anyone?
Crown Karimjee laying out what he will present: evidence of impact on the protests, King's criminal record, an interview in which King proposed shutting down Ottawa, and a video in which he laughed at residents not being able to sleep...
... as well as King's "vile and racist rant" about Muslims, Hebrews and Mandarins (King's words, the Crown notes), a video in which King suggested lying to police using hotel booking numbers to get back into downtown...
"He twisted everything," someone is heard to say on Zoom. Unclear to Crown if it was King, but King is reminded to zip it.
Karimjee continues to list upcoming evidence, including King's Facebook with over 300k followers, a King video claiming in charge of 30 trucks that he pays $4,000 per day, a Fox news interview with King indicating "We will not back down."
King's lawyer Cal Rosemond says he has filed 18 cases into court record (R. v. Ali and 17 others I won't list), And he spells out proposed surety, Kerry Jo Leigh Komix.
Some discussion of evidence from Recovery Science Technologies, which I think is the supplier of electronic monitoring ankle bracelets.
Rosemond now calls proposed surety Kerry Komix to testify. She lives in Alliance, Alberta, says she absolutely takes the charges against seriously. "Absolutely. 100 per cent."
Komix is aware of King's criminal record, most recent entry from 1999, is pledging $50,000 as surety, about half the equity in her home.
She acknowledges she must make sure King attends all his court dates and report to authorities if he doesn't abide by the conditions set. Says he'll be in her care for 24 hours a day.
She says she will take King back to Alberta with him, he'll sleep in the next room. She has a dog who barks easily. Will password protect her internet and take his phone. And is committed to ankle-monitoring bracelet to make sure it's working.
She says she wouldn't hesitate to call 9-1-1 if King breached the conditions. Says cites the example of kicking a son (her son?) out of the house at age 17, because he wasn't following the rules, as example of how she would act.
"It will be kind of a jail for him," Komix says of her home, again promises to ensure he doesn't have internet access or Facebook access. "I would be watching everything he does."
Komix says they would drive in her vehicle back to Alberta. She has made efforts to set up the ankle-monitoring bracelet.
[Needless to say, Komix is making a much stronger case as proposed surety than Dwayne Lich offered. She sounds like she's taking this very seriously.]
Komix says before retirement she was working with special-needs children and with those who had behavioural problems, says she is able to "de-escalate children" and says she and King have mutual respect.
She agrees that her work experience gives her confidence she can "control" King, and notes she would be tougher on him than children she has worked with. "He's an adult. I can be very stern.... This is my house we're talking about."
[We haven't heard *why* she's offered to do this, to have King live with her, under her supervision, possibly for two years or longer as the case winds on, at the risk of half the value of home.]
Karimjee tells court that Pat King hasn't been wearing his mask properly, not covering his nose. JoP Seymour warns him. King apologizes, says he was drinking at the time (water, one presumes).
On cross, Komix says she has known King for four weeks. "I've been in Ottawa with him. We left on the convoy together."
"And you a part of this convoy?" Karimjee asks. "I drove here," Komix replies, says King was one of the leaders of the convoy.
Komix says she has stayed in same place as King in Ottawa (but not the same hotel room). Karimjee asks if she shares King's ideology. Rosemond objects to the Q.
Karimjee shows Komix a social media post of hers, a GIF with words, "I am Canadian. I will not sit down. I will not shut up."
(The image is of what appears to be a soldier with a rifle in front of the Canadian flag, with those words over top.)
"Now you are telling the court you are going to be the enforcing of Mr. King shutting up?" Karimjee shoots back. Komix says her views have changed and her commitment is now to the court.
Karimjee asks her if she has seen Ottawa streets blocked by trucks, trucks honking and creating significant noise. She agrees. "Along with the rest of the world."
Karimjee brings up another screen with a video of King from Feb. 7. He plays it for the court, the part with King saying it's "pretty hilarious" that Ottawa residents haven't been able to sleep for 10 days. "It's awesome guys," King says on the video.
"You were present in that room when that statement was made?" Karimjee asks Komix about the video. She says she may have been but isn't certain.
"You found no problem with citizens of Ottawa being disturbed by horns at all hours of the night...you had no issues with that?" the Crown says. "It was not a concern at the time," she says, notes they did stop.
"The buildings that I saw were not residential. I wasn't aware they were bothering people," Komix says, adds would have been concerned if she was on somebody's street.
[For those just tuning it, Pat King's proposed surety, Kerry Komix, said she would bring him home to stay with her and strictly enforce bail terms. Now testifies she travelled with him in convoy, stayed in Ottawa for protests, posted a supportive meme.]
Karimjee shows Komix an overhead shot of Rideau-Sussex blockade. She says the streets "we" were on had a lane open for through traffic. Says she never saw the street in the picture.
[Lots of other FB material is being posted here in the replies but I'm reporting on what is in evidence before the court.]
Komix says she never received a flyer from the Ottawa Police telling her to leave.
Karimjee now playing King videos saying only way this ends "is with bullets" and making racists remarks, warning of the depopulation of the Anglo-Saxon race.
Komix says she didn't know of some of these videos. "Some of those videos I just saw for the first time."
"That person wouldn't harm anybody," Komix says of King. "He's talking about history." She denies she had seen video making fun of Chinese people. "The part of him that I know is he loves every race."
In response, Karimjee plays another video in which King suggests changing language to Hebrew or Chinese, makes racist joke about throwing coins -- "chong ching" etc.
Komix says she wasn't privy to that video before now. "That's not the person that I know." Karimjee jumps on this -- "you are learning something new about him right now."
Komix says the person she knows, King, has a girlfriend with bi-racial children, "They're African-American."
Komix also denies she knew about King advising protesters to lie to police. Karimjee plays a video of King telling them to get into red zone by taking Ubers or taxis and sharing hotel confirmation numbers. Komix says she hadn't seen the video until now.
Komix says she was not aware of King's criminal record before agreeing to be a surety but is now. Karimjee asks if she knows if he breached conditions. "No," she replies.
Karimjee suggests King breached probation conditions six times. Komix doesn't seem to know this.
[I can't tweet any more on this point for a certain reason.]
[I will resume tweeting when we get through this part of the cross-examination.]
Now Karimjee asks about King being charged with breaching a public health order in 2020 for not wearing a mask. Komix does not know about this.
JoP Seymour points out this would have been a provincial offence so wouldn't appear on a criminal record.
Some back and forth about whether Komix knows if it's legal for trucks to block city streets. Defence objection. This is bogging down. Komix says she heard PMJT refer in parliament to removing illegal blockades.
"There was a lot stuff that was mentioned on the news and the media that was inaccurate," she elaborates.
Komix says there was communication with police to give us streets to go on, when they were coming to Ottawa. [Lunch break until 1 pm.]
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