Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are back in an Ottawa court for the closing arguments of the mischief trial that could land them each 10 years in prison. Final submissions were heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — after a total so far of 41 days in court. The criminal trial has been dragged out for almost a year now, with opening arguments heard September 5. Closing arguments were not concluded Thursday, as the courtroom was “needed for another matter,” The Democracy Fund (TDF) tweeted from the courtroom. Lich and Barber, represented by Lawrence Greenspon and Diane Magas, face charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a police officer and counselling others to commit the same offences during the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. Mischief charges have a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Crown prosecutors earlier said are pursuing the Carter application, a conspiracy charge where one would be charged for the other’s words and actions. Each time Lich or Barber used plural pronouns, their statements were scrutinized for conspiracy. .The Crown’s closing arguments were not dissimilar from what the court has heard in the last year in court. The police at that time were “completely overwhelmed,” said Crown Attorney Tim Radcliffe, referring to evidence from OPP Inspector Lucas.Radcliffe read text messages exchanged between Lich and Barber on the second day of the Freedom Convoy, January 30, 2022, where Lich texted Barber asking him to accompany her to the “command center.”“They have a strategy to gridlock the city. I don’t want to make those decisions on my own,” texted Lich that day. Radcliffe argued in court the text suggests “that she has the authority to make this decision, but she doesn’t want to exercise that authority by herself.”“And who does she reach out to? Mr. Barber.”The Crown at another point showed texts from Barber, again with scrutiny focused on the pronouns. “We train-wrecked the city," wrote Barber at the time. Lich had texted Barber saying, “they (the team) have a plan to gridlock the city" and "I don’t want to make that decision on my own." The Crown again noted the plural terms of address.Other “plural” statements the Crown attempted to link to the Carter application were comments from Lich stating, “Make sure that we get the money to the truckers", "we plan to be here for the long haul," and "we have no intention to stay one day longer than necessary.".Defence Counsel Diane Magas reminded the court on Thursday in opening her final argument that it is the responsibility of the Crown to “prove the elements of the offences beyond a reasonable doubt — closer to absolute certainty than a balance of probabilities,” TDF reported. The court must find “both guilty mind (mens rea) and guilty conduct (actus reus),” said Magas. Magas pointed out that it’s “interesting” the Crown thinks Barber could “just go home” from the protest, when his and others’ bank accounts were frozen. “So for the Crown to say ‘just go home’... they took the money for truckers to go home,” she said. Further, Magas refuted the Crown’s argument regarding the obstruction charge. Radcliffe had said the charge should stand because the two organizers “metaphorically stood shoulder to shoulder” with protesters. Magas, however, said “there is no actus reus of metaphorically standing together for a principal.” The judge said it would qualify as counselling to obstruct if they told professors to do so. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey has six months to make a decision once closing arguments have been heard.
Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are back in an Ottawa court for the closing arguments of the mischief trial that could land them each 10 years in prison. Final submissions were heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — after a total so far of 41 days in court. The criminal trial has been dragged out for almost a year now, with opening arguments heard September 5. Closing arguments were not concluded Thursday, as the courtroom was “needed for another matter,” The Democracy Fund (TDF) tweeted from the courtroom. Lich and Barber, represented by Lawrence Greenspon and Diane Magas, face charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a police officer and counselling others to commit the same offences during the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. Mischief charges have a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Crown prosecutors earlier said are pursuing the Carter application, a conspiracy charge where one would be charged for the other’s words and actions. Each time Lich or Barber used plural pronouns, their statements were scrutinized for conspiracy. .The Crown’s closing arguments were not dissimilar from what the court has heard in the last year in court. The police at that time were “completely overwhelmed,” said Crown Attorney Tim Radcliffe, referring to evidence from OPP Inspector Lucas.Radcliffe read text messages exchanged between Lich and Barber on the second day of the Freedom Convoy, January 30, 2022, where Lich texted Barber asking him to accompany her to the “command center.”“They have a strategy to gridlock the city. I don’t want to make those decisions on my own,” texted Lich that day. Radcliffe argued in court the text suggests “that she has the authority to make this decision, but she doesn’t want to exercise that authority by herself.”“And who does she reach out to? Mr. Barber.”The Crown at another point showed texts from Barber, again with scrutiny focused on the pronouns. “We train-wrecked the city," wrote Barber at the time. Lich had texted Barber saying, “they (the team) have a plan to gridlock the city" and "I don’t want to make that decision on my own." The Crown again noted the plural terms of address.Other “plural” statements the Crown attempted to link to the Carter application were comments from Lich stating, “Make sure that we get the money to the truckers", "we plan to be here for the long haul," and "we have no intention to stay one day longer than necessary.".Defence Counsel Diane Magas reminded the court on Thursday in opening her final argument that it is the responsibility of the Crown to “prove the elements of the offences beyond a reasonable doubt — closer to absolute certainty than a balance of probabilities,” TDF reported. The court must find “both guilty mind (mens rea) and guilty conduct (actus reus),” said Magas. Magas pointed out that it’s “interesting” the Crown thinks Barber could “just go home” from the protest, when his and others’ bank accounts were frozen. “So for the Crown to say ‘just go home’... they took the money for truckers to go home,” she said. Further, Magas refuted the Crown’s argument regarding the obstruction charge. Radcliffe had said the charge should stand because the two organizers “metaphorically stood shoulder to shoulder” with protesters. Magas, however, said “there is no actus reus of metaphorically standing together for a principal.” The judge said it would qualify as counselling to obstruct if they told professors to do so. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey has six months to make a decision once closing arguments have been heard.
