Special Crown prosecutor Richard Fowler said sa国际传媒渘o amount of hostility can justify making false statements to policesa国际传媒� in his final submissions Wednesday at former Surrey mayor Doug McCallumsa国际传媒檚 public mischief trial in Surrey provincial court.

sa国际传媒淎s a whole, it is clear that the essence of the complaint was that the running over his foot was a deliberate act that occurred after he had been pinned, to use his word, against the back of his car,sa国际传媒� Fowler said. It wasnsa国际传媒檛 a hit-and-run, Fowler argued, as driver Deborah Johnstone remained in the parking lot after her encounter with McCallum in which he alleges she purposefully ran over his foot.

sa国际传媒淎 hit-and-run is very different than a deliberate attempt to hit me,sa国际传媒� Fowler noted.

McCallum had time to think and reflect on what happened in the four hours after the incident, Fowler said. sa国际传媒淗e had time to make sure what he told the police was going to be accurate.sa国际传媒� The 911 call, he noted, was made more than two hours later.

sa国际传媒淎nd in that two hours Mr. McCallum had gone grocery shopping, had spoken to the protesters, the people who were collecting signatures.sa国际传媒�

The former mayor is not someone without sophistication, Fowler noted. sa国际传媒淥f course he was, he was running the city.sa国际传媒�

McCallum used the word sa国际传媒減insa国际传媒� more than 11 times, Fowler said. He argued that McCallum had made false statements to police that sa国际传媒渃learly were designed to intentionally mislead them, purposefully causing someone to be suspected of having committed offences they did not commit.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淗e said she had pinned him,sa国际传媒� Fowler told the court. sa国际传媒淭hat simply did not happen.sa国际传媒�

Fowler said McCallumsa国际传媒檚 statements to police werensa国际传媒檛 sa国际传媒渟imply reckless hyperbole. In other words, they werensa国际传媒檛 statements that were made in the heat of the moment, with no time to quietly reflect on what had just happened.

sa国际传媒淎 review of the CCTV video footage clearly shows that Ms. Johnstone had not committed any of the offences suggested by Mr. McCallumsa国际传媒檚 statement.sa国际传媒�

Fowler told Judge Reginald Harris that what he needs to decide is if McCallumsa国际传媒檚 was a complaint that his foot was run over, or was a complaint that his foot was deliberately run over after he was pinned to the back of his car.

sa国际传媒淚f in fact Mr. McCallumsa国际传媒檚 foot was run over, in my respectful submission he has intentionally exploited what was an obvious accident by deliberately characterizing it as something it was not,sa国际传媒� Fowler said. sa国际传媒淭he only reasonable inference in my respectful submission is that the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of mischief. You can be sure he made false statements, you can be sure he intended to mislead. You can be sure he causes Deborah Johnston to be suspected of commiting an offence she did not.sa国际传媒�

Before that, defence lawyer Eric Gottardi told Harris that the sa国际传媒減rimary reason the Crownsa国际传媒檚 case has failed is in fact his foot was run over,sa国际传媒� and that it is sa国际传媒減reposteroussa国际传媒� to suggest there was an attempt at public mischief on McCallumsa国际传媒檚 part. He asked for an acquittal.

sa国际传媒淭he Crown cannot prove that the accused communicated false information to a peace officer,sa国际传媒� Gottardi argued.

McCallumsa国际传媒檚 trial is in its second week.

He is charged with one count of public mischief stemming from an encounter on Sept. 4, 2021, between himself and a group of volunteers that was gathering petition signatures outside the South Point Save-On-Foods store in South Surrey for a referendum on the policing transition.

After a 13-year break from the mayorsa国际传媒檚 chair, which he occupied from 1996 to 2005, McCallum was sworn in by a judge on Nov. 5, 2018 for his fourth term as Surreysa国际传媒檚 mayor. Brenda Locke, of Surrey Connect, defeated him for the mayorsa国际传媒檚 seat in the Oct. 15 election by 973 votes. Locke and the new council were sworn in on Monday night (Nov. 7). One of her election promises was to make McCallum pay for his own legal costs in this case, rather than Surrey taxpayers having to foot the bill. Locke said shesa国际传媒檚 instructed city staff to that end, sa国际传媒渁nd that they are to seek outside legal for an opinion regarding the citysa国际传媒檚 obligation.sa国际传媒�

The trial continues.

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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