Tamara Leach will remain in jail until at least Friday, when a justice of the peace is due to rule on whether she breached her bail conditions by appearing with another Freedom Convoy leader at an awards gala in June.
Leach appeared in court in Ottawa on Tuesday for her fourth bail hearing since she was first arrested in February.
Crown prosecutor Moise Karimji said a photo and video showing Leach at a Toronto gala, posing with and briefly talking to Tom Marrazzo was a “clear” violation. He argued that Leach should be detained.
But defense lawyer Laurence Greenspon said Leach’s actions were “minimalist at worst” and did not constitute an offence, so she should be released on conditions.
Leach was taken into custody in Medicine Hat, Alta., on June 27 after Ottawa police issued a warrant for her arrest in Canada.
She faces charges of mischief, counseling mischief, obstructing police, counseling to obstruct police, counseling to intimidate and intimidation by blocking and obstructing one or more highways in connection with the protest, which shut down parts of Ottawa for about three weeks last winter.
On Tuesday, Greenspon argued that the time Leach has spent in custody since her arrest “far outweighs the seriousness” of her behavior.
“She has spent nine days in jail so far for exchanging greetings and posing for a photo with someone she shouldn’t have been in contact with,” he said.
The exact wording of Leach’s bail conditions was debated at length during the hearing. They dictate that she cannot contact or communicate in any way, by physical, electronic or other means, with a list of people connected to the convoy – including Marazzo – except through a lawyer or in the presence of a lawyer.
Det. Chris Benson, the lead investigator on the case, told the court on Tuesday that police had received “numerous complaints” that Leach had allegedly breached her bail conditions at the June 16 ceremony in Toronto.
Court was shown a video where Leach can be seen talking to Marrazzo for about three seconds.
“You’re certainly not going to suggest … the contact that’s being referred to there is physical contact,” Greenspon told Benson, arguing the terms outlined for communication.
“They’re present, together, and it’s physical contact,” the detective replied. “If they’re in the same room and communicating, that includes that.”
Tamara Leach, fourth from left, was ordered by a judge to have no contact with fellow convoy organizer Tom Marrazzo, second from right. This photo shows the group in Toronto after Leach accepted his Freedom Award from the JCCF. (Facebook/Stacey Kauder)
Greenspon said police could not hear what she said to Marrazzo in the video. He also pressed the detective on whether he could identify lawyers from the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which organized the event.
Benson said he could not, adding that he was unaware of any of Leach’s attorneys being present at the video or photo taken that night.
“She is sitting at a table with Mr. Marrazzo at a social event, a gala. This is not a law office, this is not a boardroom,” Benson said, explaining the basis for the warrant for her arrest.
“She was photographed later that evening with Mr Marazzo, hand in hand.”
“City Lockdown Strategy”
A text message from Leach to Chris Barber, another organizer of the convoy, obtained through a police search of his mobile phone, was also read out during the hearing.
“Great. The command center just called. Can you go there with me soon,” the message, sent on January 30, read. “They have a strategy to block the city. I don’t want to make these decisions alone. “
Greenspon, Leach’s attorney, said it was unclear who the “they” referred to in that message, adding that it did not say that was Leach’s strategy.
Karimjee came to a different conclusion and described the text as the “CN Tower” of his case and said it showed that Lich “is a decision-maker in the command center.”
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