The Ontario authorities is interesting the acquittal of a grandfather charged with mischief and police obstruction, after police accused him of offering gasoline in jerry cans to Freedom Convoy protestors in Ottawa in February 2022.
Allen Remley, a 70-year-old grandfather of 16 and father of 4 who lives close to Guelph, was discovered not responsible of all fees on Feb. 1 by Ontario Court docket Justice Heather Perkins-McVey. He was accused of fees in relation to a kids’s pink wagon full of jerry cans on Feb. 12, 2022, in Ottawa, close to his automobile.
His lawyer, Jim Karahalios, stated he believes it’s the first acquittal on legal fees of any particular person related to the convoy protests.
The Crown has since filed attraction paperwork that argue the trial decide erred, and has requested the court docket for both an order overturning the acquittal of Remley, or a brand new trial.
Enchantment
There are a variety of grounds the Crown is utilizing to recommend the trial decide made a authorized error. For instance, the Crown alleges that the trial decide characterised the federal Emergencies Act, declared on Feb. 14, 2022, as irrelevant to the legal fees in opposition to Remley, which originated on Feb. 12.
The decide determined to listen to proof from witnesses quite than taking judicial discover of assorted copies of stories releases supplied by the Crown, and this seems to type the idea for the attraction. The Crown has argued in attraction paperwork that Perkins-McVey’s refusal to take judicial discover of assorted generalized “legislative measures” taken in response to the Freedom Convoy meant the federal government couldn’t communicate to “the direness of the scenario in Ottawa” in making their mischief case in opposition to Remley.
The Crown stated it sought to depend on the convoy’s “influence on Ottawa.” As one instance, the federal government famous within the attraction court docket paperwork that the trial decide refused to take judicial discover of the closure of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
Acquittal
The justice, in issuing the acquittal, stated there was no proof Remley honked his horn, made noise, or interacted with any protestors. She stated the accused was not an organizer of the protest, and that the Crown based mostly its case on “an affordable inference that there was gasoline within the jerry cans,” quite than proving the case in opposition to the grandfather past an affordable doubt. She famous that the constable offering proof “couldn’t say that he noticed Mr. Remley fill a jerry can,” couldn’t say that there have been jerry cans in Remley’s truck, and couldn’t recall seeing him ever maintain a jerry can. “Based mostly on the proof earlier than me, the very best now we have is jerry cans in a wagon 10 toes away with dozens of individuals milling about,” stated Perkins-McVey. “It’s not sufficient to say the accused was current on the scene.”
Remley, who does missionary work in Africa, didn’t current any proof or testify at his listening to.
In acquitting the person, Perkins-McVey dominated the police officer’s notes had been poor, and stated Remley was denied his constitutional proper to a lawyer. The justice stated the federal government didn’t show its case.
Ontario’s Legal professional Basic Doug Downey didn’t reply to questions from The Epoch Occasions.
Karahalios stated he doesn’t know why the federal government even determined to take the matter to a trial. “It’s on the Crown to show fees past an affordable doubt,” he informed The Epoch Occasions. “Within the eyes of the media and public, individuals are responsible for simply being there in Ottawa.”
He stated, “The quantity of money and time put into prosecuting this grandfather is stunning, contemplating the legal justice system has gone the opposite means with extra critical violent crimes, by eradicating obligatory sentences.”
Perkins-McVey stated at Remley’s listening to, which happened Jan. 11, 12, and 13, that she was going to be listening to the case in opposition to Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who additionally face fees in reference to the convoy. Lich is subsequent scheduled to be in court docket in September.
