Questions about Crown witnesses
I’m Karen Pauls, a senior reporter who’s covering this trial with my CBC colleagues at the London courthouse.
I had an interesting conversation with one of the many legal experts who’s not involved in the case but is following it closely.
Brandon Trask, an associate professor in the University of Manitoba’s faculty of law, is writing a book about Crown policies and prosecutions.
Speaking from Winnipeg, Trask says he’s curious to find out why the Crown called now-retired London police sergeant Stephen Newton to testify. Newton was the lead investigator in the original case, which he eventually closed.
Newton’s value may be the Crown’s ability to play the recorded interviews he conducted with several of the defendants in November 2018, Trask said.
Newton told court yesterday he did in-person interviews with Michael McLeod and Alex Formenton, and phone interviews with Cal Foote and Dillon Dube.
Court watched McLeod’s interview yesterday, and we may see Formenton’s as well, although it’s not certain when. These previous interviews may be the only time we hear from any of the defendants, who aren’t mandated to testify.
Newton started the video by saying he didn’t believe he had grounds to lay sexual assault charges and had no plans at that point to arrest McLeod.
“There’s certainly a perception, at least at this stage, that some of these witnesses have been arguably more harmful to the Crown’s case than helpful,” Trask said.
