Trial of Freedom Convoy organizers longer than protest that sparked it

After 26 days the criminal trial for a pair of "Freedom Convoy" organizers has now taken longer than the original protests in 2022. 

The trial, originally slated for 16 days, has been bogged down by delays like the legal wrangling over certain testimony or evidence, or how Ottawa police collected and handed over evidence to Crown prosecutors.

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, the two most prominent leaders of the trucker protest, helped lead thousands of demonstrators to Ottawa where they clogged streets for nearly four weeks in January and February of 2022.

They are on trial for charges of committing mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation for their role in the protest.

At the outset of the high-profile trial, the court dedicated 10 days for the Crown to make their case that Lich and Barber "crossed the line," but the pace of proceedings slowed almost immediately.

Issue with 1st witness

The Crown's first witness came with a few hiccups.

First the court entered into a voir dire — a "trial within a trial" — to determine the permissibility of a compilation of police-gathered video clips, which prosecutors were trying to introduce as evidence. 

Cross-examination was then delayed because Barber's lawyer, Diane Magas, requested and was granted access to all the open source and police video used to make the compilation video.

The first week also saw technological and other delays bring proceedings to a crawling pace and when it ended, the defence had established its frustration, raising complaints about the large swaths of new evidence from the Crown introduced mid-trial. 

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey also told the court she was "very unhappy" about those disclosures, even calling a short recess to "settle" herself.

"This should have been done well before the trial," she chided before leaving the courtroom.

Three extra days were added as a precaution.  

Issues with other witnesses, police

As the trial crawled on, three of four police officers who entered the witness box had their testimony halted because of issues over how police disclosed materials to Crown prosecutors.

Perkins-McVey also had to order the Crown to disclose internal police documents to the defence after Lich and Barber's lawyers requested information from the police service about a software upgrade that wiped phones from at least two officers who were communicating directly with protesters.

The judge called it "very unusual" and ordered the Crown produce an internal police email about the phone upgrade for defence lawyers to review.

After reviewing heavily blacked-out internal police emails, she also unredacted the contents: detailed instructions to officers on disclosing evidence. 

Kim Ayotte, Ottawa's manager of emergency and protective services, then showed up to testify about his role, but he didn't bring his notes and that caused a recess.

Perkins-McVey vowed before the trial began she would keep the proceedings on the rails, and as the first week ended, she repeated that intention. 

Defence attempt blocking testimony, evidence

That was not the case when court returned the following Monday. 

Barber's lawyers rose to block nine Ottawa residents and businesses from testifying on behalf of the Crown, which further delayed the trial. Ultimately the citizens did testify, about the protest's impact.

Defence lawyers then argued against Crown plans to use 212 pages worth of posts and videos from the "Freedom Convoy 2022" Facebook page, including updates that convoy organizers gave to supporters. Again, more delays.

More delays are likely because there is ongoing discussion about the contents of text messages retrieved from Barber's phone. The defence and Crown are painstakingly going through about 20 conversations with Perkins-McVey to decide what should be admissible.

The trial was adjourned on Nov. 3 with no additional sitting days scheduled, but lawyers plan to meet next week to set some. 

The trial has run long despite prosecutors staying a bail-related charge against Lich to ensure the criminal trial was the focus.

Still, Diane Magas has said multiple times — if the trial slows because of the Crown — she would consider seeking an application to have the charges stayed because her client's right to be tried within a reasonable time would have been violated, also known as a Jordan application.