Breadcrumb Trail links
- News
- Local news
Leach was arrested at Medicine Hat on June 27 and police escorted her to Ottawa on a Canada-wide warrant after she was charged with violating one of her bail conditions, which prohibits her from having any direct or indirect contact with other organizers of the convoy.
Tamara Leach was arrested in Medicine Hat, Alta., on a Canada-wide warrant on June 27 and, after being escorted to Ottawa by police, has remained in custody since then. Photo by Errol McGihon/Postmedia
Article content
Tamara Leach will learn Friday whether she will be released or remain in custody at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Center after her lawyers mounted a lengthy challenge to the Crown’s latest bid to return the accused Freedom Convoy leader to prison.
Advertisement 2
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Article content
Assistant Crown prosecutor Moise Karimji presented new evidence in court Tuesday of a series of text messages from Leach to co-accused organizer Chris Barber, including one exchange on Jan. 23 in which she mentioned a strategic decision to “lock down” the city during the three-week convoy demonstration.
“They have a strategy to block the city,” Leach wrote. “I don’t want to make these decisions alone.”
Leach was arrested in Medicine Hat, Alta., on June 27 and police escorted her to Ottawa on a Canada-wide warrant after she was charged with violating one of her bail conditions, which prohibits her from making any direct or indirect contact with fellow convoy organizers.
The Crown previously sought to revoke Leach’s bail and return her to prison in May for another alleged violation, when she accepted an invitation to a gala in Toronto organized by the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms.
Advertising 3
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Article content
The judge in that bail review found no violation and allowed Leach to attend the gala, which she did on June 16 as the guest of honor.
Karimjee on Tuesday released a video from that gala of Lich’s acceptance speech for the JCCF Freedom Award. The clip continues with Lich returning to her seat at the table, where she is greeted by Maxime Bernier, before being seen briefly exchanging greetings with Tom Marazzo, who is also seated at the table.
Marazzo is among a list of people associated with the convoy’s leadership whom Leach is prohibited from contacting, under the terms of her release, unless she is in the presence of an attorney.
Karimjee also took a photo from the event of a group that included Lich and Marazzo — which was widely shared on social media — as evidence of the alleged violation.
Advertising 4
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Article content
Leach’s attorney, Lawrence Greenspon, argued that those actions were “so minor” that they were never intended to be covered by the release conditions and “should not be prosecuted,” he said.
“Should this court really hold Ms. Leach for what she did in Toronto?” Greenspon asked. “To do so … detention on this basis is not justified and would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. (These are) acts that were never intended to be excluded under the terms of her release.
The release conditions include a no-contact order restricting Lich from contacting several key organizers of the convoy, but containing an exception for contact “through (legal) counsel or in the presence of an attorney.”
Advertising 5
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Article content
This clause was open to interpretation by both the Crown and the defence.
Greenspon questioned Det. Chris Benson, the lead investigator on convoy cases for the Ottawa Police Service, and suggested that Leach had lawyers attending the gala from the JCCF — which admitted to funding her legal defense and representing her in related civil proceedings.
Karimjee argued that the exemption was granted “only to discuss legal matters (with a lawyer); not for posing for pictures.
The Crown also pointed to the newly discovered text messages and said Leach had repeatedly demonstrated a lack of respect for the judicial system and the rule of law.
“These texts — and much of the other evidence — build up to a mountain of evidence … a truckload of evidence,” Karimji said.
Advertising 6
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Article content
Lich’s court-approved surety, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, admitted it “absolutely” raised concerns when the photo of Lich and Marazzo surfaced.
Leach, according to testimony, “assured” the guarantor that she had proper approval from her attorney and that the attorneys were out of frame when the photo was taken.
The surety has already posted a $20,000 forfeitable bond and said they would be willing to pay another $37,000 on Lich’s new charge. This bond, according to the surety’s testimony, would deplete pension and savings.
Greenspon downplayed the video as “a congratulatory interaction (with Marazzo) that lasted less than three seconds.”
Greenspon said Leach had already spent nine days in jail for the alleged offense — 12 days until the decision was issued — after being arrested on an “unprecedented” Canada-wide warrant.
Advertising 7
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Article content
“This is the third attempt to put her back in jail,” Greenspon said. “The Crown is trying to convince the court that these are among the most serious offenses and she has already spent nine days in jail for exchanging greetings. This is so minimal that if there was any communication, it was in the presence of an attorney or of such momentary transitory value that it was not inconsistent with the purpose of the restraining order.
Justice of the Peace Paul Harris said he compiled more than 40 pages of notes while presiding over the day-long hearing Tuesday and told the court he would return Friday with a ruling.
ahelmer@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/helmera
Share this article on your social network
Advertisement 1
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Sign up to receive daily breaking news from the Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
By clicking the signup button, you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your spam folder.
The next issue of the Ottawa Citizen Headline News will be in your inbox soon.
We encountered a problem registering you. Please, try again
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments can take up to an hour to be moderated before they appear on the site. Please keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications – you’ll now receive an email if you get a reply to your comment, there’s an update to a comment thread you’re following, or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Add Comment