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Already beset with long courtroom delays, the trial of accused convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber will now lengthen into March — and most probably past — earlier than attaining its much-anticipated conclusion.

Legal professionals for Lich and Barber met previous in January with Crown prosecutors Tim Radcliffe and Siobhain Wetscher, in conjunction with the trial’s presiding pass judgement on, Ontario Courtroom Justice Heather Perkins-McVey, to agenda dates in March for the trial to proceed.

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Lich and Barber have been a number of the first convoy contributors to stand fees once they have been arrested by way of Ottawa police on Feb. 17, 2022, at the eve of a large two-day operation to transparent the protest from downtown streets. Barber and Lich have been collectively charged with mischief, obstruction, intimidation and counselling others to devote identical offences.

The prosecution closed its case towards the 2 convoy leaders in November after calling proof from 16 Crown witnesses throughout 27 trial days — extending some distance past the preliminary 16-day estimate defined at the trial’s opening day in early September.

The trial will reconvene March 7 to listen to the pass judgement on’s choice on a movement alleging that Lich and Barber acted in combination in a “conspiracy or not unusual design” to gridlock downtown streets all over the three-week convoy demonstration and that proof towards one accused organizer will have to practice to each.

The defence is looking for to disregard the movement, arguing the Crown had now not demonstrated any “illegal objective” in making plans the protest. The defence is then anticipated to document a separate movement with the courtroom as soon as the trial resumes for 3 days on March 13.

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The defence has mentioned it’s going to require 5 trial days to mount its case, name proof and make last arguments. The ones trial days have not begun to be showed.

Within the interim, Lich’s legal professional, Lawrence Greenspon, is downplaying any issues over the outspoken convoy chief’s go back to social media after her bail stipulations have been at ease in December, permitting Lich to reactivate her dormant Twitter account.

“It’s been 22 lengthy months since I’ve been allowed to log in to my Twitter account,” Lich wrote in December, tagging Twitter/X proprietor Elon Musk and asking, jokingly, “Did anything else attention-grabbing occur whilst I’ve been away???!!?!”

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Lich mentioned her former account was once “deactivated as according to my former (bail) stipulations and deleted after state of being inactive.”

In a observation to True North Media in December, Lich mentioned she and her felony crew believed it was once an acceptable time to boost the social media ban, which have been imposed as a part of her preliminary bail stipulations.

“I’ve been hoping for rather a while to have my stipulations various and with the loss of proof now we have observed up to now (and) the surprising period of time the trial is taking, we felt it was once a great time to have this particular situation reviewed,” Lich mentioned in a observation to True North.

Greenspon counseled that observation in an interview this previous week, announcing the bail variation permitting Lich to go back to social media was once induced essentially by way of the “time the trial has taken” and Lich’s want to renew touch together with her circle of relatives by the use of Fb.

Greenspon defended a contemporary Twitter put up by way of his shopper criticizing Ottawa police.

“The Ottawa Police Provider is without doubt one of the maximum inept, corrupt and incapable organizations I’ve ever encountered,” Lich wrote in a Jan. 12 Twitter put up, revealed in respond to some other Twitter put up written by way of Eva Chipiuk, a legal professional previously with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.

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“I might have most popular any feedback about police would were directed to the higher echelon (of the OPS govt), since the downside was once now not with the law enforcement officials at the floor, that’s needless to say,” Greenspon mentioned in a telephone interview Friday.

“The truth that the Ottawa police directed the demonstrators into the downtown core and onto Wellington Boulevard… that was once obviously one thing that are meant to now not have came about and that’s on the ft of the Ottawa police,” Greenspon mentioned.

“The willingness of the demonstrators to paintings with the Ottawa police that was once stopped on account of (the OPS govt’s) instruction that police will have to give them ‘Now not one inch.’

“That’s pop out within the proof, so when it comes to the efforts of the demonstrators to paintings with police liaison … There was once a shockingly just right dating between the demonstrators and the liaison officials.”

Greenspon mentioned he “would possibly or won’t” name witnesses when the trial turns to the defence to mount its case.

Lich is represented by way of Greenspon and Eric Granger; Barber is represented by way of Diane Magas and Marwa Younes.

The dates for that section of trial are “nonetheless undetermined,” Greenspon mentioned.

ahelmer@postmedia.com

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