Doug McCallumsa国际传媒檚 defence began its case Wednesday morning (Nov. 2) in Surrey provincial court with a declaration that Crownsa国际传媒檚 evidence falls sa国际传媒渕arkedly shortsa国际传媒� of the criminal standard of proof for a public mischief charge.

Lawyer Eric Gottardi said evidence tendered by the defence will show McCallumsa国际传媒檚 foot was sa国际传媒渋n factsa国际传媒� run over by Deborah Johnstonesa国际传媒檚 tire on Sept. 4, 2021.

The former Surrey mayor 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. He is accused of misleading police.

The first of two expert witnesses the defence called Wednesday was Dennis Chimich, a biomechanical engineer and expert in injury causation.

Chimich told the court Johnstonesa国际传媒檚 Mustang was moving slowly through the parking lot and he determined there was a mass of 413 kilograms over her right rear wheel. He submitted a report on the matter on Oct. 17, 2022, the court heard.

Chimich testified the vehicle sa国际传媒渞olled oversa国际传媒� his foot while McCallum was sa国际传媒渞elativelysa国际传媒� standing still and that feet can be run over by vehicle tires resulting in no fractures.

sa国际传媒淏one injuries are not to be expected at low speed,sa国际传媒� he said. The absense of fractures in McCallumsa国际传媒檚 case sa国际传媒渄oes not mean that his foot was not run over.sa国际传媒�

He brought out a skeleton foot model in court as a visual aid.

They discussed a journal called sa国际传媒淔oot and Ankle International,sa国际传媒� which drew some chuckles from the gallery.

During cross examination, Chimich told special prosecutor Richard Fowler that he did not calculate horizontal acceleration but sa国际传媒渦sed mass as my guidesa国际传媒� for vertical force. He did not know the state of the tiresa国际传媒檚 inflation, he said. Nor did he examine McCallumsa国际传媒檚 footware.

sa国际传媒淚 did see pictures of the shoes, I did not physically examine them,sa国际传媒� Chimich told the court.

Fowler asked him what minimal force is required to cause visible injuries on a foot inside a sock and shoe.

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 know,sa国际传媒� Chimich replied.

The defencesa国际传媒檚 next expert witness, Bradley Heinrichs, is a mechanical engineer and expert in accident reconstruction and video analysis.

A frame-by-frame review of CCTV footage from the grocery store shows McCallumsa国际传媒檚 arm sa国际传媒渏erk backsa国际传媒� as the tire passes, Heinrich noted. He said he went to the scene and used a laser scanner to create a 3-D scan of the parking lot, which was shown in court.

Heinrichs said the video was not capable of telling him if there was a limp or change in McCallumsa国际传媒檚 gait after the incident.

sa国际传媒淚 couldnsa国际传媒檛 tell,sa国际传媒� he said.

A third witness for the defence, radiologist Dr. Hamed Basseri, works at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock. He testified he found no X-ray evidence of a fracture in McCallumsa国际传媒檚 left foot but found sa国际传媒渕oderatesa国际传媒� soft-tissue swelling on the outside of the foot sa国际传媒渢oward the small toe.sa国际传媒�

During cross-examination, Basseri told Fowler he never physically observed McCallumsa国际传媒檚 foot and did not observe any X-ray of the right foot. He told the court he was not able to say if there was swelling on the day before or earlier.

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 correct,sa国际传媒� he told the court.

The trial continues on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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