Sudbury byelection investigation a 'waste of money' and politically motivated, says defence

Gerry Lougheed says the three years since he was first accused of bribery have "absolutely" soured him on politics.

"I think the jadedness comes from seeing a system that really shows no respect to the individual and constantly wants to talk about the partisan," Lougheed said just moments after he was acquitted of bribing potential Liberal candidates ahead of the 2015 Sudbury byelection.

The prominent Sudbury businessman and long-time Liberal organizer was charged along with former Liberal Party CEO Pat Sorbara with bribing would-be candidate Andrew Olivier to stand aside so then NDP MP Glenn Thibeault could defect to the Ontario Liberals.

Sorbara was also charged with bribing Thibeault to become a Liberal.

But Judge Howard Borenstein ruled Tuesday that the charges should never have been laid, since under the Election Act, neither Olivier or Thibeault were candidates, so the bribery provisions do not apply.

"I might suggest the taxpayers of this province have spent an awful lot of money on this case, the investigations and my question would be why? And who in fact was the motivator of this?" Lougheed told reporters outside of court.

Lougheed's lawyer, Michael Lacy went a little further, suggesting that "political pressure" on the police investigators and Crown prosecutors led to these charges being laid.

"Sometimes that happens unfortunately when politics get in the way," Lacy said.

"I'd be wondering why the money went into this case, why it was wasted on the investigation and wasted on the prosecution."

Lacy, who didn't mince words about the Crown's case during the trial, said the prosecution was based on "one of the most convoluted arguments I've ever heard in a courtroom."

It is incredibly rare for a trial to end like this, with a directed verdict based on the weakness of the evidence, before the defence even has to present a case.

"There are close calls and there are those that aren't at all close," Sorbara's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, told reporters.

"This is on the extreme of not close at all."

But when asked if he felt the investigation and prosecution were "politically motivated," Greenspan would only say: "That you'll have to leave to the politicians."

His client, Pat Sorbara, wiped away tears in the courtroom when the verdict was read and afterwards, said she is open to continue her work in politics.

"I'm glad this day has come and I kind of always felt it would come," Sorbara told reporters.