1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber SENTENCING 🧵

The MOST comprehensive coverage ANYWHERE. Follow along for my courtroom reporting live from Ottawa.

It's finally here. Today Tamara and Chris will learn their fate.

The government has turned them into boogeymen and blamed them for the "ills" of the Freedom Convoy. I have sat through the bulk of this trial and the extraordinary unimpressive evidence the crown has presented.

Social media posts saying hold the line. Social media posts saying be peaceful and Ioving. Social media posts BEGGING for communication with the government stepping on us all falling in deaf ears. And a couple posts expressing frustration with the government's boot.

The trucker protest saved lives. That's a fact.

And for that the government has said Chris and Tamara should spend 8 and 7 years in prison respectively.

Tamara beat all of her charges except 1 - mischief.

Chris Barber beat almost all of his charges except mischief and counselling disobey a court order.

So they should go to jail for the better part of a decade? While other, often violent protesters on the left walk free or have their charges dropped?

It's wrong. It's unfair. It's unjust.

The administration of justice requires a fair and fitting sentence for the crime. Even 6 months in jail would be unfit to the crime and the facts of the case. Parity. Impact. Circumstances.

These are non-violent offences and first time offenders with impeccable family and professional lives. They are extraordinarily pro social and probably have some of the greatest public support for any convicted person in Canada in many, many years.

Distinguished defence attorney Lawrence Greenspon said it himself. It's very, very rare for him to be able to talk about the POSITIVE IMPACT of a client's crime. Yet alone so extensively. The letters of support flooded in telling him just how much positive change the trucker protest made in their lives. Some said it saved them.

And it's all true. In my humble opinion, the life-saving impact of the trucker protest vastly outweighs any negative impact of horns.

Horns which Tamara never honked. Horns which they're not responsible for. Other people's actions.

But the crown said no, they stood SHOULDER TO SHOULDER with them. They're a principal and a party, and an aider and abettor to... Trucks parked on the street and horns.

So 7+ years in jail?

This is a dark day for our country. Pray for our country. Pray for Chris and Tamara.

Follow this thread for my live tweets.
@LichTamara @ChrisBarber1975 @chrisdacey 2/ Lawrence Greenspon, Tamara's lawyer, talks about the life-saving impact the Freedom Convoy had on many people

https://x.com/rightblend/status/1948434794473214245?t=s09kpUldVK1z-V9FOkcYmQ&s=19

1/ 🧵 Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber is back in Ottawa court yet again (he's spent more than 45 days in court for this case) for the crown's forfeiture application. Follow this thread for my courtroom coverage.

In plain language, they are trying to take his work truck, Big Red, and destroy it.

The crown claims the big red truck is offence related property (ORP), similar to Biker gang symbolism, and should be forfeited, seized, and destroyed.

Chris Barber was convicted of 1 x Mischief and 1 x Counsel Disobey a Court Order. The crown is seeking 7 years in prison for Chris Barber and 6 years in prison for co-accused Tamara Lich, who was convicted of 1 x Mischief.

In addition to that, the crown is also pursuing this rather vindictive forfeiture application. As it stands, both the sentencing decision and the forfeiture decision are scheduled to be delivered on October 7th.

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey of the Ontario Court of Justice will decide the outcome of both matters.

Big Red is Chris' work truck that he uses to run his business in Saskatchewan. His trucking business hauls massive farming equipment that frankly feeds the country. It's incredible to look at the videos and pictures Chris posts of the truck hauling 100 foot+ long farming tools or massive harvesters.

He's had that truck for many years. His kids were partially raised in that truck. His son Jonathan has now followed in his footsteps and has become a trucker himself.

Both Jonathan Barber and Chris' parents have ownership interests in Big Red. It came out last time on Brendan Miller's (from Public Order Emergency Commission fame) cross examination of the police officer who investigated the truck's ownership that third party rights were not properly considered, to say politely.

Jonathan Barber was unfortunately involved in a serious accident earlier this month in his own truck. As I understand, Big Red is a type of collateral for Jonathan Barber's truck, as Barber's trucking company was unable to obtain a traditional loan to get Jonathan's truck.

Luckily, no one was hurt, but the truck was severely damaged and the accident has put enormous strain on Chris Barber's company during the busiest time of the year.

Some good news before we dive in: Freedom Convoy trucker Csaba Vizi won his Charter application. The judge in that case found Mr. Vizi was unlawfully arrested due to missing information concerning the arresting officer. To be blunt, it's not known or not presented to the court who the arresting officer was.

Therefore, Charter and basic critical information like what were the reasonable grounds for the arrest, what was the time and location of the arrest, was a caution given, were rights to counsel given promptly, etc. cannot possibly be known.

I was not able to access that proceeding, but I have good information that the arrest was found unlawful, the search incident to arrest was found unlawful, and there potentially section 10 issues as well that may have been partially mitigated by a detective later informing Vizi of some charges.

The remedy delivered was an exclusion of all evidence relating to the discovery of Mr. Vizi's name, including social media evidence. The crown who showed up this morning was a replacement and was not briefed on what to do with the decision against them.

It is extremely likely Mr. Vizi's case will be dropped very soon. 2/ The proceeding began around 11 am Ottawa time despite being scheduled for 10. This is common at the courthouse, as other matters and issues tend to take up more time than anticipated.

We are currently on break as of several minutes ago while the judge decides on whether Jonathan Barber needs to be excluded from the Zoom session during the testimony of Chris Barber's father, Danny Barber.

Brendan Miller is arguing he shouldn't be excluded as he is in a sort of "co-accused" position with his grandfather Danny concerning their third party interests in Big Red and claims the crown might make against them. The crown wants him excluded, and it seems the judge is leaning that way.

1/ 🧵 Doug Ford's crown prosecutors are back in court today trying to take Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber's iconic Big Red truck so it can be destroyed.

They say it is offence related property, much like biker gang symbolism or drugs, and should be seized and destroyed.

They seem terrified of the hope that truck represents and the strength and hope the Freedom Convoy inspired. It wasn't enough for them to charge over a hundred people and take many to trial. These court cases have ruined lives and buried people in debt.

Some have gone to jail. Some have been on house arrest. Some have had conditions for years that removed basic liberties like posting on social media. Some were subjected to 1 am knocks by police. Again, this went on for years.

But that's not enough. It's not enough to run the longest mischief trial of all time, 40 plus full days of court time prosecuting Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. That's not enough. They need to go further.

Lich was convicted of 1 x Mischief and Barber was convicted of 1 x Mischief and 1 x Counsel Disobey a court Order. And for that, they want SIX YEARS in prison for Tamara Lich and SEVEN YEARS for Chris Barber.

Meanwhile, deranged and violent repeat criminals walk through the revolving door of our court system and continue victimizing communities. But for the crime of protest and some people honking, Chris and Tamara should get years in prison? It's insane!

And on top of all of that, the Ontario crown looked at this travesty of justice and said, that's not enough. We need to go further. We need to take Chris Barber's means for income. We need to take the truck his children grew up in. We need to take that truck and DESTROY it because some Canadians find it a source of hope and inspiration.

This is not justice.

I am currently trying to get remote access to court so stand by. No response to my request yet. 2/ I still don't have access / a response to my request.

The CBC and other news organizations manipulate Canadians every day.

They are partisan but unlike me, they disguise their partisan label to appear neutral. It's dishonest and dirty.

I'll give you some hypothetical examples to show you how they do it 📷: In the first hypothetical, Pierre Poilievre makes a campaign stop at an ice cream shop. He is asked by the owner of the store to go behind the counter and make an ice cream cone for a customer in front of the cameras.

The CBC and other so-called mainstream news manipulate Canadians every day

They are partisan but unlike me, they disguise their partisan label to appear neutral. It's dishonest and dirty

I'll give you some hypothetical examples to show you how they do it 🧵: In the first hypothetical, Pierre Poilievre makes a campaign stop at an ice cream shop. He is asked by the owner of the store to go behind the counter and make an ice cream cone for a customer in front of the cameras.

1 THREAD/ TODAY, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber will FINALLY receive their verdict in the longest mischief trial in Canadian history.

The authorities have spent an unbelievable amount of resources prosecuting Chris and Tamara to the end of the Earth because they had the audacity to stand up against the most oppressive restrictions on Canadian right and liberties in generations. How many violent criminals were let off the hook because the court was spending precious resources on this and other Freedom Convoy cases?

Thank God for the Freedom Convoy. No matter what happens today, they already won.

As I have done throughout this entire record setting trial, follow this thread for my courtroom coverage throughout the day. 2/ The courtroom is PACKED! A large group of supporters, including some who came from as far as Vancouver are filling the gallery. The energy is good. Let's see what happens.

Her Honour Justice Heather Perkins-McVey will deliver the verdict. She is currently talking to all counsel in chambers.

1/ PAT KING VERDICT thread 2/ Courtroom 32 is a much smaller room and it is completely full of supporters, fake news propagandists and cranks

1/ The trial of Canadian Armed Forces veteran Jeff Evely is about to begin. Mr Evely is charged with mischief for allegations during the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa in 2022.

The trial was delayed this morning by a couple hours and moved to a different courtroom because there was a number of bookings at the same time.

I have to leave shortly for personal business. I'm not sure how much of this I'm going to tweet about but I intend to observe as much as possible.

The judge says she's aware there are some Charter materials before the court.

Defence lawyer Mr Fleury [sp?] says there is a form 1 notice, notice of constitutional question, and book of authorities in 3 volumes.

The judge says she has them all. She hasn't had an opportunity to read the cases. She's taken a look at form 1 and constitutional question. She's ready to get started.

The crown says before we begin, the crown won't be proceeding on count 1. Proceeding on other 2 counts.

The arraignment. Charged with on or about Feb 19 2022 ... did willfully obstruct... interfere with enjoyment of property under 430... [and] did obstruct officer in execution of duty...

The crown elect to proceeds summarily. Evely pleads not guilty. 2/ Crown says there is an agreed statement of fact. Deals with background of what Freedom Convoy entails. 3 crown witnesses who will be addressing the events leading up to Evely's arrest.

The evidence from the crown will consist of 6 videos, 4 of which originate from Mr Evely's social media. 1 is open source video from Feb 18 and 1 is drone footage from Feb 18 from OPS. Crown evidence.

1st evidence Cpl[sp?] Meulen [sp?]. An order excluding witnesses.

1/ Shockingly, today is day 44 in the longest mischief trial in Canadian history. Follow this thread for my coverage of the trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber from the courtroom.

As a Canadian, do you support this extremely lengthy and expensive prosecution of the alleged Freedom Convoy leaders for mischief charges?

I don't. I believe this is a fundamental miscarriage of justice on the behalf of the prosecution in this case and the vast majority of Convoy and Covid "Quarantine Act" cases. It's political.

It was, perhaps optimistically, expected that today might be the last day of trial. It's looking like that won't be the case. We still need to listen to Lawrence Greenspon of the defence for Tamara Lich, and then the crown gets a reply to the defence's closing arguments.

So far, the defence has done a very good job casting doubt on the crown's circumstantial, questionable, and honestly fairly weak evidence. The outcome of this case largely balances on horns and whatever "hold the line" means, as well as pronouns like "we."

It's not a slam dunk by any objective review. It's also fair and reasonable to conclude that the vigor with which this case and others like it have been pursued, and the decisions prosecutors have made, are political. 2/ We're a little over 20 minutes late this morning.

Magas explains Ms Younes is in court elsewhere but we're prepared to continue without her.

Mr Granger rises.

He passes 4 transcripts where the phrase hold the line is used by Lich for context.

1/ Today is day 41 of the trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. The crown finished their closing arguments yesterday (finally) - and I'm using the word argument generously. One such argument being that someone was wearing the same hoodie as Tamara, therefore she must be guilty!

The judge said it could have been from a sale. Not the homerun hit of logic the crown was hoping for, but it's not entirely their fault they can't make good arguments. The evidence sucks. There's nothing to work with. So that's why they're talking about hoodies. 🤣

On the other hand, the crown's decision to pursue this wasteful and ridiculous prosecution is extremely political. So it's hard to feel bad when they flop in court.

The defence will begin their closing arguments today. And unlikely the crown, the defence teams have a lot to work with to prove Tamara and Chris' innocence.

The wonderful Ms. Magas is up first for Chris Barber. 2/ There's a customary delay this morning. A big crowd is waiting outside of courtroom 5 to see the A team. The defence lawyers are beginning their closing arguments today.

There are 2 - possibly 3 - detractors. 🤣

1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are back in court ONCE AGAIN for the longest mischief trial in Canadian history. Follow this thread for my coverage from the courtroom.

Today is court day 39 of what was supposed to be a 14 day trial 🤣. Throughout the trial, the crown has tried to lay responsibility for the Freedom Convoy at the feet of Chris and Tamara.

They haven't been convincing with their evidence and theories.

This is a judge alone trial in the Ontario court of justice.

The trial has now moved onto closing arguments. There will be 3 days this week for arguments.

A principal issue for the crown is the Carter application. Carter is a legal argument that evidence against one coaccused, if it can be generously called that in this case, applies against the other coaccused.

In this case, the crown is trying to argue that the so-called evidence against Chris Barber should apply against Tamara Lich. IF the judge dismisses the Carter application, there would be virtually nothing on the table, so to speak, against Tamara (not that there's anything convincing anyways) and her aquittal would be nearly certainly guaranteed.

Let's hope so. 2/ We're delayed this morning. This is a tradition in this court. But I will say that the justice in Chris and Tamara's case has probably been the fairest I've seen anywhere.

Still though, the abuse of the process continues unabated. How can, in any universe, this case and it's expenditures be in the public interest? It's not in the public interest. This case isn't about justice. It's about getting Chris and Tamara.

1/ We are now onto day 13 of Pat King's trial. Follow this thread for my coverage from the courtroom. It is currently the defence's case. Today was originally anticipated to be a partial day but I doubt that will be the case.

The defence intends to call several civilian witnesses and two police officers. The police are currently present in court.

We are delayed this morning. The defence had a delay.

The defence calls Cst Isabelle Cyr. She affirms. 2/ Cst Cyr has been employed with OPS nearly 22 years.

She was assigned to special events unit during the Freedom Convoy. She describes the special events unit. She says anyone organizing a demonstration has to coordinate with then.

Defence asks why have to? Cyr says it's recommended to ensure public safety. Defence asks but is it required? Cyr says it's not required for demonstrations but is advised.

Cyr asks to use her notes to refresh. Defence says hasn't been fully disclosed. Crown says they were. Judge grants permission to refresh with notes. Defence asks witness to tell court where they are refreshing so everyone can follow along.

Cyr attended a meeting with city partners where they decided trucks would park. Cyr testifies she was aware of the ingress maps but after that meeting. She shared them with Chris Garra [sp?] and Daniel Bulford.

Defence asks if she shared them with James? She did. Defence asks if she knows the last name? Crown agrees for defence to lead. Defence says Bauder. Witness agrees.

1/ It's crown cross examination of Cst. Matthew Bickford. Crown asks about an encounter Bickford had with a frustrated business owner on Laurier. Business owner didn't like the sound or inability to get deliveries. Crown asks about horns he recalls there. He doesn't recall horns at that time at that place.

Crown keeps pushing about horns. Cst Bickford testifies that no matter where you went, there were horns. Some pickups rigged up with train horns - he doesn't know where or how he got them - rigged up to go off.

Now Feb 8 2022. A byward market restaurant owner expressed concerns to officer Bickford. The restaurant owner told the officer the Convoy was worse than Covid mandates [DOUBT]. Officer commented personal observations business was slower when asked by Crown if Market was "dead" during Convoy.

Crown pushes. Defence objects- he can't prove that. Crown asks was market busier during massive lockdowns?

Judge says being in Covid could be reason. Really fair to ask the witness to opine on that?

Crown says he visited it during look down versus when it was on Feb 8.

Judge allows it.

Cst Bickford says can't give answer. Wouldn't be able to give answer in terms of difference

Crown brings up an example from officer where someone was able to leave the Convoy. Crown uses this to highlight someone was able to leave [to push back against defence argument that protesters were barriacaded] 2/ Feb 2 2022 morning. Crown notes Bickford noted that some trucks participating in "occupation" have small children on board. Crown asks why he used that word. Defence objects up to your honor to decide. Judge says no it's in his own notes.

Bickford testifies it would have felt like that. It was being occupied. Dt full of trucks and people with no intention to leave. And their were children.

Crown asks why noted children?

Bickford says fkr safety concern. Young children present. If any action is taken, it would have to be delicate. Saw newborn babies living in cars with parents.

Crown elaborates on PLT role and why he noted this. For superiors to know.

1/ Danny Bulford resumes his testimony on day 10 of the Pat King trial

The crown asks if someone wanted to leave, they could negotiate that with police. Bulford agrees. Crown asks if Bulford was aware of anyone who wanted to leave but could not. Danny says no.

Danny Bulford testifies his observation was people wanted to stay until the mandates were dropped

Now the crown is asking about Bulford's interaction with King on the 18th. Bulford explains it was his second interaction with King, and it was early on the 17th. It lasted under 2 minutes. It was one of 2 interactions

The crown asks about the first interaction. It was earlier in the Convoy. Bulford testifies it was very brief. The crown asks if Danny identified King as a leader of the Convoy. Bulford answers [not really], but as a person with a large social media following.

The crown asks if Danny identified King as a road captain. Danny said he wasn't sure at the time.

The judge asks Danny to explain if he saw King as a leader or thought he was making decisions. Danny responds no. Bulford elaborates that those people [making decisions] were mostly named in the civil suit. The judge names Tamara and Chris, and Bulford seems to agree.

Bulford testifies more about his role. That he would keep doing it until the protesters decided to leave. That he was a conduit of information between police and protesters as people always do at protests 2/ Danny Bulford also testifies that leader is not a good term. The people involved in decisions, many named on the board of Freedom Corp - no one had control of the Convoy. Bulford didn't tell people what to do.

The crown asks if he now knew King was a leader after seeing POEC. Bulford begins to answer, but defence objects. Says he's being asked to piece something together despite saying multiple times he himself did not know King was a leader. Crown agrees.

Crown tries to ask Danny Bulford about a Freedom Convoy website. He said he never went on it. Defence says this isn't in evidence. Judge remarks he never knew about this website.

The crown asks the witness if information on the website about Pat King is his. Crown says won't read number to protect King's privacy. Defence says if it's even King. Crown reads out the number. The information is also listed beside Bauder

1/ Pat King's defence lawyer Natasha Calvinho gives the defence's opening statement. It is the crown's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. She says that the defence has the right to remain silent, but in this case silence would be deafening.

She says defence will present evidence that proves there was no mischief, no counseling.

Defence argues context is key.

Defence says this case is very much political. She says we would not be here for this trial if not for disagreement of political views.

Pat King had a right to protest.

Court has not been given the full picture.

Defence says why Freedom Convoy came to Ottawa is important. Anticipates evidence will establish that before Convoy arrived police and city new Convoy would stay.

Police and city erected barricades before first trucks arrived. That context is important.

Trucks were told where to park and remain. They were given details of how to get in to city, but never given plans of how to mass egress.

Calvinho argues they were barricaded in. Context. 2/ Calvinho argues not all downtown residents were disturbed by the Convoy. She argues Mr King is not responsible for everything that happens. King's defence says if anyone failed citizens of Ottawa, it was all three levels of government, city, provincial, and federal. Not Mr. King or any other peaceful protester.

The first witness will be former RCMP officer Danny Bulford who resigned because of vaccine mandates. Bulford was instrumental in security and communicating with police. One of the best people to tell court what police told protesters to park etc, barricades placed, obstacles to leaving, what protesters were told and not told.

1/ Follow this thread for my live reporting from the courtroom on Day 2 of Pat King's trial.

Pat King stands accused of 9 criminal charges that could carry a significant penitentiary sentence if he's convicted. Pat King became notorious for his activism during the Freedom Convoy, where the crown accuses King participated in the "mischief" of the Freedom Convoy and emerged as a leader of sorts during the protest.

Yesterday's proceedings were adjourned due to the defence lawyer, Natasha Calvinho, feeling unwell.

Supporters of Mr. King are in the court room, as well as the next crown witness, Vivian Leir.

Pat King is presumed innocent. 2/ Vivian Leir swears on the bible.

Crown begins their chief.

Crown: I'll have some questions for you this morning. I'll ask you to project your voice. If you dont hear or want me to rephrase let me know (okay) Understand you work at church (I do) which one (St Andrews) whereabouts (82 Kent, at corner of Wellington and Kent) and do you also reside in Ottawa (I do) And whats your role within the church (administrator. Take care of business side as well as supporting staff, volunteers, rentals) what's size of congregation (several hundreds) how long have you been working there (seven years)

Crown: What does a week look like at church (obviously, Sunday is our service. Now have 1 service on Sunday. Ongoing activities during week... choir also practices. Rentals. Various rentals. Could be from concerts to alcoholics anonymous in basement. Sometimes social gatherings... Tuesday concert series. Fairly busy. Always custodian on site) How many days during week do you work (5 right now) what hours (I work on site 9-12:30... [work remote afternoons and weekends?])

The crown asks Leir if January/Feb 22 sticks out. Vivian says Convoy. "Freedom people." Trucks parked on all sides of church. All through downtown area. Very challenging.

1/ I am at the disciplinary hearing for Ottawa Police Service Detective Helen Grus. I'm not sure what day of the hearing this is, but I was here on Monday. Detective Grus is charged under the Police Services Act with 1 count of Discreditable Conduct for allegedly investigating a possible link between Covid 19 vaccination and the sudden death of infants in Ottawa.

The defence has highlighted detective Gru's excellent performance reviews. Further, testimony from prosecution witnesses repeatedly said detective Grus was a competent investigator with whom they did not have a negative working relationship. This paints the picture of detective Grus as an officer who follows the rules, gets along with others, and does their duty to investigate crimes thoroughly and properly.

The defence's strategy may be demonstrating that not only was detective's Gru's alleged investigation justified, but perhaps obligatory. Policing rules require officers to investigate potential criminality, no matter where and what it is. The process and patterns that led to detective Grus considering criminal negligence or any other potential criminal circumstances in the death of the infants is not only relevant but essential to these proceedings.

However, much of the evidence surrounding this has been objected to by the prosecution; the hearing officer at one point remarked that the hearing was not going to become a forum for theories about Covid 19 and Covid 19 vaccines. That's concerning. Detective Grus is charged with Discreditable Conduct for allegedly investigating a possible link between Covid 19 vaccines and harms to victims, and to discount the evidence and patterns that led her down that path means she cannot mount a proper defence.

It's like charging someone for not being able to finish a race while tying their legs to the starting pole. Bad example, but you get the picture.

This is a critical case. Will the truth, whatever it may be, take precedence over people's preconceived conclusions about Covid 19 and other controversial events, or will hive mind thinking rule the day and all dissidents be unjustly crushed? 2/ We're back in secession. The prosecution has an objection. The witness is out of the hearing for this.

Defence reads OPS policy. Personally owned devices... may be disclosed. Defence was told can't get Bochar's [texts] - have to go through telecom. Defence says this OPS policy gives authority to have full and proper defence. Documents have been authenticated by witness.

Tribunal officer says time to take break. Prosecutor says not making submission on email they sent - just position of OPS. Going to be an issue in respect to public interest privilege in regard to... thinks tribunal needs to consider that. If talking about ongoing or historical [investigations?]. Investigative privilege, public interest privilege all going to be live issues.

Defence says reason we have regulatory offences to protect the public. When person charged with offence under act that regulates their profession, in public interest ---

Hearing officer says going to recess. 10 minutes, maybe a bit more.

1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber trial day 25 🧵. The crown's case was estimated to end 15 days ago and there's still no end in sight. The defense's case has yet to begin.

Yesterday, the defence got a pretty big win when the judge ordered the production of exhibits A and C to the court. After her inspection of the documents, Justice Perkins-McVey subsequently dismissed the crown's clearly irrelevant argument on exhibit A and ordered it disclosed to the defence.

The judge remarked that it could go to officer Bach's credibility and help assist answer questions she was unable to.

When it came to exhibit C, where solicitor client privilege is claimed in communications between two or more police officers, the judge said she would need more time to decide if privilege applies and only the most necessary redactions have been made. 2/ Crown says they requested followup disclosure from police after justice Perkins-McVey's orders yesterday and have yet to receive anything. Crown says Det Benson is working on something. Judge asks if it's going to trigger the necessity of another application.

Crown says they don't know what it is. Could address one issue with respect to cellphone chat exhibit 129 - discussed yesterday; no redactions required so passing up copies

...

Crown files articles of incorporation [for Freedom corp?] as next exhibit, exhibit 133

...

1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber criminal trial day 23. Follow this thread for my courtroom reporting.

Day 22 was full of substantial legal arguments heavily relying on case law such as Stinchcombe and O'Connor.

The arguments surround the defense's request to receive technical instructions that were provided to OPS officer Bach. Defense requested this information following the revelation that Bach's work phone was completely wiped out sometime after convoy from an update.

The material given to defense in response to their request was nearly completely redacted, spawning the aforementioned legal arguments. The crown cited several reasons for these redactions, including "clearly irrelevant," "client solicitor privilege," and "litigation privilege." One of the defense's points of contention appears to be the claim of solicitor client privilege, even when there seems to be no solicitor present in some of the redacted emails, which appear to be between 2 or more Ottawa police officers.

Beside the heavy legal arguments, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey made several comments yesterday that may partially reveal some of her thinking so far. Justice Perkins-McVey stated that it was clear from the evidence in the trial [so far] that the convoy was not 1 group, as the crown has been arguing, but several groups [18 or possibly 20].

The ruling on the current legal arguments is expected to take some time. Justice Perkins-McVey indicated she may be ready to rule on the 3rd party application [I believe for the clearly irrelevant redactions] sometime next week. The solicitor client privilege redaction ruling, however, will take longer, she said. The judge also remarked about how it was unusual to have 2 PLT officers have their phones wiped [she used the word wiped]. Expanding on that, Justice Perkins-McVey asked if any of the other 15 [PLT officers] had their phones wiped?

Another interesting comment from Justice Perkins-McVey came during an exchange with the crown. The crown was arguing about how material is to be dealing with Mr. Barber's and Mrs. Lich's actions, and the judge said she disagree. She said the [crown's?] evidence has been talking about the convoy as whole, and from the evidence [so far?], it [the convoy] wasn't one team.

At another point, the crown was asking about what application the legal arguments could have relevance towards [I believe]. The judge suggested Jordan [not that she agrees with it] [for one]; she stated that the Signal chat being disclosed mid trial has caused delay. She added that clearly, officers were aware of Signal and if [non-disclosure] on purpose, it could be relevant to Jordan.

In the meantime, defense has indicated they are not prepared to continue cross of OPS officer Bach. It is possible we will here further legal arguments today, possibly to around or after noon, and potentially have another police witness take the stand to start their examination in chief.

I am totally unsure of the scheduled dates going forward. The crown's case was anticipated to take 10 days, and has gone on 23 days so far. The defense hasn't yet started their case, which was scheduled to take 6 days. 2/ We are in session.

1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber criminal trial day 21. Yesterday we heard that Ottawa police PLT officer Nicole Bach had lost everything on her work cellphone shortly after Convoy 2022.

Officer Bach was the main police contact with Chris Barber. She testified she made an attempt to follow instructions from IT to "transpose" her phone data preceding an "update" but was unsuccessful.

Bach also testified that she had police Signal chats on her personal device. When asked by Magas why she did not disclose it, she testified that she believed that all material had been disclosed on her behalf already.

Another Ottawa police officer, officer Isabelle Cyr, previously testified that she was missing some phone texts from late January to February 9th. Officer Cyr was one of if not the main PLT information person. She testified during Convoy she was extremely overwhelmed and felt like she was doing the job of 20 people.

Interestingly, Greenspon, lawyer for Tamara Lich, has requested a delay in court this morning. The delay was originally supposed to be 10 minutes but has been extended to over 30 minutes long.

I am delayed getting to court this morning due to urgent other matter but am receiving information from a trusted source inside.

The two accused face a possible 10 year prison sentence if convicted. The trial has now gone 5 days longer than originally estimated. 2/ Court was briefly back in session. The defense requested more time. Defense suggested adjourning to noon. Court will break until noon. One of the crown attorneys was absent when court briefly reconvened, but everyone else was there.

1/ Tamara Lich and Chris Barber criminal trial day 20. It has now been 4 court days longer than this trial was originally anticipated to take. We are starting later this morning, at 11:15, due to a request from Tamara's lawyer Greenspon as he had other business this morning. Follow this thread for my courtroom coverage.

Yesterday, we heard testimony from Ottawa police officer Isabelle Cyr, who testified that she felt extremely overwhelmed during the Freedom Convoy and that she was doing the job of 20 people. Cyr worked as a PLT, police liaison officer, and was one of the key points of contact for several (other) Convoy organizers - as well as the main information person for the OPS PLT.

We learned that Cyr is an officer who distributed maps and route information made by police to truckers showing them where to park in Ottawa and how to get there for the protest. Cyr did not recall hearing, despite the information being somehow available to Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) - that OPS INTERSEC believed the trucker protest was going to be a significant, potentially extended event (longer than 30 days).

We heard limited information yesterday about direct contact with Chris or Tamara. As always, remember that if convicted, the two accused Convoy leaders face a potential ten year jail sentence. The trial's schedule is unclear, and the crown expressed frustration yesterday at how dates they thought were reserved for this trial - which they say they worked with counsel teams to accommodate schedules across the region - were no longer.

There was discussion in court yesterday about potential trial dates as far away as December (20 & 21). The end is not in sight at this time. 2/ We are in session.