Lich, Barber convoy trial hears Crown’s closing arguments today (LIVE BLOG)

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The trial of accused convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber reconvenes this week with closing arguments expected from both Crown prosecutors and the defence teams.

The high-profile mischief trial commenced Sept. 5 and extended far beyond the initial estimates as the proceedings were beset with lengthy delays and court challenges.

The prosecution, led by Crown attorneys Tim Radcliffe and Siobhain Wetscher, closed its case against the two convoy leaders in November after calling evidence from 16 Crown witnesses across 27 trial days.

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The trial was initially set for 16 days.

Still at issue is a motion filed by the Crown, called a Carter application, alleging Lich and Barber acted together in a “conspiracy or common design” to gridlock downtown streets during the three-week convoy demonstration, and that evidence against one accused organizer should apply to both.

Lich is represented by Lawrence Greenspon and Eric Granger; Barber is represented by Diane Magas and Marwa Younes. The defence elected to call no evidence or witnesses to testify.

Both sides are expected to deliver closing arguments this week to the presiding judge, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey.

Lich and Barber were among the first convoy participants to face charges after they were arrested on Feb. 17, 2022, on the eve of a massive two-day police operation to clear the protest from downtown streets. Barber and Lich were jointly charged with mischief, obstruction, intimidation and counselling others to commit similar offences.

Follow along here for live updates throughout the day:

12:20 p.m.

The Crown is now attempting to portray Lich and Barber as “among the more prominent protest organizers.”

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They had crowd-funding efforts with donations that reached $10 million, according to the organizers’ own statements at the time.

They had a “command centre, a team of lawyers, security, a finance committee… no other group (at the protest) conducted press conferences.”

Lich was introduced as “the spark that lit the fire” by lawyer Keith Wilson at one of those press conferences.

Lich and Barber each had (and continue to have) a “sizeable social media following,” which the Crown has characterized as their “megaphone.”

Lich and Barber were well-known as organizers during the protest, and were named as defendants in the horn-honking injunction.

The judge again challenges this and says the demonstration was a “bandwagon… and we don’t know how people jumped on.”

Wetscher replies: “This was a bandwagon that carried on for three weeks,” despite warnings from police, a court injunction and, eventually, the Emergencies Act.

11:55 a.m.

Wetscher tells the judge “this an overwhelming case” for the Crown.

The testimony from Crown witnesses has been “credible and reliable and confirmed by other sources of evidence,” such as photos, videos and documentary evidence.

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The Crown’s evidence “was not fatally contradicted or challenged” by the defence cross-examination, Wetscher says, and the evidence “clearly implicates” Barber and Lich.

Wetscher says the two “are not on trial for their politics, but for the means they employed to reach their end.”

Crown says the “noise, congestion, smells and harassment” took the convoy “out of the spectrum of what could be considered a lawful protest.”

Several related trials have concluded with acquittals for some participants and convictions for others.

Wetscher says “not a single decision characterized the convoy as a lawful demonstration.”

Perkins-McVey is challenging the Crown here. She says Lich and Barber were considered part of the more “moderate” groups that converged on the city and were actively negotiating with city officials to “minimize the impact” on downtown residents.

“These vehicles were directed onto Wellington Street,” the judge says. “When they were welcomed and directed there, they were following the advice of the Ottawa police, who were trying to manage this protest, which they knew was coming.”

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Wetscher says, at some point, that welcome “wore out.”

The judge wants to know exactly when that happened. Police officials said they thought the protest would disperse after the first weekend.

11:20 a.m.

In a trial already beset by numerous procedural delays, today’s start was delayed by technical issues as court staff scrambled to set up a monitor to accommodate the Crown’s video/slide presentation.

The judge has finally entered the courtroom, and after holding a brief meeting with Crown and defence counsel in the back room, court is now ready to begin.

Defence teams have presented the judge with their final written submissions, as well as their “book of authorities” — or, a collection of case law outlining similar cases to establish a legal precedent to support their submissions.

The Crown has also submitted their written submissions and authorities.

Assistant Crown attorneys Tim Radcliffe and Siobhain Wetscher will take the court through a “high-level summary of the law” to support their case. These verbal submissions will be an “amplification” of what is contained in the written submissions.

This trial extends for the remainder of this week and has three days reserved for next week — Monday, Tuesday and Friday — if these proceedings go long.

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