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A cellblock video depicting Ottawa Coun. Matthew Luloff twice blowing double the legal blood-alcohol limit after his arrest for suspected impaired driving has now been released to the media, two weeks after it was shown during his trial.
The video — a key piece evidence in the Crown’s case — shows Luloff interacting with the breathalyzer technician throughout the approximately 37 minutes he’s shown, and contains several important conversations between them.
“You understand what this is going to mean for me,” Luloff tells the officer. “And I’m a local politician who’s running for federal office, so you can think whatever you want to say, but this is not, not, gonna be good for me.”
At the time the councillor was running to become MP for Orléans for the Conservative Party of Canada. He resigned his candidacy days later, after he was charged, citing a personal matter.
In the cellblock video Luloff says repeatedly that he’ll “never forget” being handcuffed in his garage “with one foot in my house, like ready to go to bed.”
There are a “lot of big problems in Ottawa, and I’m the guy you’re going to deal with tonight. OK,” he tells the officer.
“Well, I mean, not to be a Debbie Downer, but impaired operating a vehicle can be very bad,” Const. Maranda McCutcheon counters.
“Could be, could be a big deal,” Luloff agrees. “Like, pulling me out of my garage though, I mean … pulling a guy basically out of his bed.”
Luloff asked to be released
On the first day of the trial, Const. Omar Vanwelzenis testified that as he was driving Luloff to the cellblock, Luloff asked if his handcuffs could be taken off.
“As well, he asked me multiple times if he could be released,” Vanwelzenis told court.
In reality this is an attempt to embarrass Mr. Luloff.– Defence lawyer Lawrence Greenspon on publishing video
Const. Alvis Azzi also responded that night. He testified that he asked Luloff what he did for work as Luloff was being escorted to Vanwelzenis’s vehicle, and that “[Luloff] said something to the effect of, I am the councillor for Ward 1, and you know that.”
Luloff, the 41-year-old councillor for Orléans East-Cumberland, pleaded not guilty Jan. 19 at the outset of his trial to operating a vehicle while impaired, and having a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit within two hours of ceasing to drive.
The allegations against him have not been proven, and his lawyer has argued that police violated Luloff’s Charter rights no fewer than seven times, starting from the moment two constables pulled up to his driveway and parked on July 5, 2024, the night he was arrested — and the night Nickelback headlined Bluesfest .
Media consortium fought for access
All the evidence in the trial was heard and all the exhibits were filed Jan. 19 and 20.
Whether or not to release exhibits to journalists is always the presiding judge’s call to make, but typically judges sign off and exhibits are made available while evidence is being heard.
After CBC News requested the exhibits in this case, Ontario Court Justice Mike Boyce asked the public broadcaster to bring a formal application for a hearing as to whether it could access and publish them. Postmedia and CTV then joined CBC in its application, and the hearing took place Wednesday.
The Crown took no position, but defence lawyer Lawrence Greenspon was opposed. He argued that Luloff was compelled by the state to submit to breath testing and be filmed doing it without being told it could be broadcast one day, and that previous court rulings dealing with media access to exhibits and court openness never contemplated such evidence.
“In reality this is an attempt to embarrass Mr. Luloff,” Greenspon said. “Freedom of the press is nothing less than a fundamental freedom … balancing needs to take place.”
In the end, Boyce sided with media counsel David Taylor. The judge ruled that publishing the video and other exhibits poses no risk to the fairness of Luloff’s trial because the evidence has already been heard and it’s a judge-alone trial with no jurors or upcoming witnesses who might be influenced by the exhibits.
Boyce found “that the administration of justice is enhanced” by allowing the public to see and scrutinize what took place for themselves, including the conduct of police.
While Mr. Luloff is a public official, the court must be cautious to ensure that it applies the same standard, the same test, to all individuals subject to applications such as this.– Ontario Court Justice Mike Boyce
And while Boyce has “no doubt” that the publishing of the video “will bring discomfort or even embarrassment” to the councillor, that’s not enough to override court openness, and is not an affront to Luloff’s dignity.
“While Mr. Luloff is a public official, the court must be cautious to ensure that it applies the same standard, the same test, to all individuals subject to applications such as this,” the judge added.
Boyce is expected to announce his decisions on the alleged Charter breaches by police, the admissibility of evidence and Luloff’s alleged offences on Feb. 27.
