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Two charges were dropped last week against the two firefighters on trial in an alleged choking incident at a Barrhaven fire station in 2022.
Crown attorneys withdrew a charge of criminal harassment against Eric Einagel, 38, who remains on trial for assault causing bodily harm. Einagel is accused of choking Ash Weaver, a non-binary firefighter and a rookie at the time of the altercation.
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Court documents show another charge was withdrawn during the same hearing against co-accused Gregory Wright, the fire captain who is on trial for threatening to discipline Weaver if they reported the incident to police.
The Crown last week withdrew Wright’s charge of negligence causing bodily harm. The charges were both dropped with the judicial consent of Ontario Court Justice Mitch Hoffman.
The judge-alone trial is to resume this coming week on the remaining charges.
The trial commenced May 6 with witnesses describing the Sept. 14, 2022, incident that began with an argument at a kitchen sink over dishwashing duty.
According to witness testimony, Einagel had asked to do the dishes, which is typically the duty of the most junior member of the crew. In this case, that was Weaver, who was completing their one-year probation period.
As the argument escalated into mutual “hip-checks,” witnesses said they saw Weaver facing away from Einagel, about to run backwards into him, when he reached around and wrapped one hand around their neck.
Weaver testified that Einagel grabbed their wrists and “slammed” them into the kitchen counter before his hands went for their neck, picking up and shaking Weaver as he choked them.
Weaver testified Einagel said they “wouldn’t last” around the fire station and “had to change” who they were.
Einagel’s defence lawyer, Dominic Lamb, accused Weaver of “embellishing” parts of their testimony during cross-examination last week.
Assistant Crown attorneys Siobhain Wetscher and Sonia Beauchamp closed the case for the prosecution, and the trial is set to resume with the defence presenting its case.
With files from Marlo Glass
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