Setback in the Montague case...
Mar20: Court Proceedings Delayed
Dear Supporters:
It's been a long couple of days for us this week. Court was delayed until 2:30pm on Monday because of a bad snow storm. The judge couldn't land in Kenora Sunday night and had to fly in after noon on Monday.
The judge came back with a decision about the standing of our expert witnesses. Gary Mauser is considered an expert witness but one of his papers will not be considered for the purposes of our hearing. Dave Tomlinson will not be considered an expert for the purposes of our case because he was considered too much of an "advocate" (as opposed to being objective). This news wasn't particularly unexpected and shouldn't have a large effect on our case.
At this point we had to deal with a more serious issue that the crown brought up in the factum. The crown stated "The Crown must be given notice of any constitutional challenge, and where notice is lacking, the challenge may be rejected. The Applicants' factum does not precisely state what is being claimed, . . ." We were able to spend several hours reviewing the factum and assessing this real threat of having our charter challenge dismissed. After much debate our case management team decided it was best to ask for a postponement of 4 months so that we could re-draft our arguments. This also meant that we had to discharge our lawyer from the case.
This was a heart wrenching and difficult decision to make, but rest assured we are doing this with the ultimate success of our challenge in mind. I'm sure there may be some questioning the wisdom of this move, but I implore you not to judge our actions too quickly. There are many factors to consider when making a move like this and we spent a couple of sleepless nights debating it before coming to this drastic conclusion. I wish I could tell you more but there is some sensitive information that was part of this decision that cannot be publicized.
Please don't lose hope (as I sometimes felt in the past couple of days) and continue to pray for our success as we search for an energetic and sharp lawyer to pick up this case - we're researching and interviewing several lawyers over the next two weeks so we can make a decision by April 4th.
Yours in Liberty,
Bruce.
And, media reports...
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:28:06 -0400
From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca
Subject: NW Ont. man fires lawyer, stalling constitutional challenge...
PUBLICATION: The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
DATE: 2007.03.23
SECTION: General News
BYLINE: CP wire
WORD COUNT: 265
NW Ont. man fires lawyer, stalling constitutional challenge of Firearms Act
KENORA, Ont. (CP) - A northwestern Ontario man challenging the
constitutionality of the Firearms Act has fired his lawyer - a move that
could delay the case by up to four months.
Bruce Montague dismissed Toronto lawyer Calvin Martin on Tuesday and
asked Justice John Wright for a four-month adjournment in order to
obtain a new lawyer.
Wright reluctantly granted the four-month adjournment, but ordered
Montague to return to court on a monthly basis to provide an update on
his progress in finding new counsel.
The next date, in which Montague will appear before Wright by video
conference, is April 24.
Wright noted the difficulties Montague will have in finding a new lawyer
who is familiar with both criminal and constitutional law.
The judge also said new counsel will have to step in where Martin left
off, since he was in the middle of his submissions on the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms application.=20
"You understand the seriousness of changing horses midstream?" Wright
asked. "If this were a trial, chances are I would simply proceed and
leave you to act for yourself."
Crown attorney Peter Keen told the court the delay will result in
"significant prejudice" to the Crown's case, and also expressed
concerned about the "public safety issue" considering the
firearms-related charges Montague is facing.
"We want this to get to trial as early as possible," Keen said.
Montague, from Dryden, is charged with 53 counts of weapons-related
offences, including the unauthorized possession and careless storage of
non-restricted firearms, explosives and restricted firearms.
His wife, Donna Montague, is facing three charges: unauthorized
possession of a firearm and two counts of careless storage of a firearm.
Their charter application is seeking to strike out sections of the
Criminal Code of Canada related to the Firearms Act, to have their
criminal charges dismissed and to have the Firearms Act declared
unconstitutional.
(Kenora Daily Miner and News)
Dear Supporters:
It's been a long couple of days for us this week. Court was delayed until 2:30pm on Monday because of a bad snow storm. The judge couldn't land in Kenora Sunday night and had to fly in after noon on Monday.
The judge came back with a decision about the standing of our expert witnesses. Gary Mauser is considered an expert witness but one of his papers will not be considered for the purposes of our hearing. Dave Tomlinson will not be considered an expert for the purposes of our case because he was considered too much of an "advocate" (as opposed to being objective). This news wasn't particularly unexpected and shouldn't have a large effect on our case.
At this point we had to deal with a more serious issue that the crown brought up in the factum. The crown stated "The Crown must be given notice of any constitutional challenge, and where notice is lacking, the challenge may be rejected. The Applicants' factum does not precisely state what is being claimed, . . ." We were able to spend several hours reviewing the factum and assessing this real threat of having our charter challenge dismissed. After much debate our case management team decided it was best to ask for a postponement of 4 months so that we could re-draft our arguments. This also meant that we had to discharge our lawyer from the case.
This was a heart wrenching and difficult decision to make, but rest assured we are doing this with the ultimate success of our challenge in mind. I'm sure there may be some questioning the wisdom of this move, but I implore you not to judge our actions too quickly. There are many factors to consider when making a move like this and we spent a couple of sleepless nights debating it before coming to this drastic conclusion. I wish I could tell you more but there is some sensitive information that was part of this decision that cannot be publicized.
Please don't lose hope (as I sometimes felt in the past couple of days) and continue to pray for our success as we search for an energetic and sharp lawyer to pick up this case - we're researching and interviewing several lawyers over the next two weeks so we can make a decision by April 4th.
Yours in Liberty,
Bruce.
And, media reports...
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:28:06 -0400
From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca
Subject: NW Ont. man fires lawyer, stalling constitutional challenge...
PUBLICATION: The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
DATE: 2007.03.23
SECTION: General News
BYLINE: CP wire
WORD COUNT: 265
NW Ont. man fires lawyer, stalling constitutional challenge of Firearms Act
KENORA, Ont. (CP) - A northwestern Ontario man challenging the
constitutionality of the Firearms Act has fired his lawyer - a move that
could delay the case by up to four months.
Bruce Montague dismissed Toronto lawyer Calvin Martin on Tuesday and
asked Justice John Wright for a four-month adjournment in order to
obtain a new lawyer.
Wright reluctantly granted the four-month adjournment, but ordered
Montague to return to court on a monthly basis to provide an update on
his progress in finding new counsel.
The next date, in which Montague will appear before Wright by video
conference, is April 24.
Wright noted the difficulties Montague will have in finding a new lawyer
who is familiar with both criminal and constitutional law.
The judge also said new counsel will have to step in where Martin left
off, since he was in the middle of his submissions on the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms application.=20
"You understand the seriousness of changing horses midstream?" Wright
asked. "If this were a trial, chances are I would simply proceed and
leave you to act for yourself."
Crown attorney Peter Keen told the court the delay will result in
"significant prejudice" to the Crown's case, and also expressed
concerned about the "public safety issue" considering the
firearms-related charges Montague is facing.
"We want this to get to trial as early as possible," Keen said.
Montague, from Dryden, is charged with 53 counts of weapons-related
offences, including the unauthorized possession and careless storage of
non-restricted firearms, explosives and restricted firearms.
His wife, Donna Montague, is facing three charges: unauthorized
possession of a firearm and two counts of careless storage of a firearm.
Their charter application is seeking to strike out sections of the
Criminal Code of Canada related to the Firearms Act, to have their
criminal charges dismissed and to have the Firearms Act declared
unconstitutional.
(Kenora Daily Miner and News)
posted by Stephen at 11:07 AM
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