A surprise revelation has temporarily delayed the proceedings at the BC Supreme Court hearing of the former clerk of the legislature, who is accused of misappropriating public dollars.
Crown state prosecutor David Butcher told co-chief justice Heather Holmes that during an interview with lawmaker Hilary Woodward on Wednesday night, he heard about two new sets of documents relevant to the case.
Butcher admitted the documents would come as a surprise to the defense team for Craig James. He said one set of documents was “potentially, significantly apologetic”, meaning it could be useful for James’ defense.
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James pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud involving more than $ 5,000 and three counts of breach of trust by a public official.
The court adjourned while an RCMP officer conducted an interview with law clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd over the documents before the trial resumed with her testimony because neither the crown nor defense had time to review the interview.
Details of what was in the documents were not disclosed in court.
Defense attorney Gavin Cameron initially argued against allowing prosecutors to question Ryan-Lloyd directly about the documents, claiming he was “shadow boxing” without knowing how the Crown intended to use the information.
Before agreeing to the RCMP interview, Cameron said entering the documents at this stage was “grossly unfair” after Woodward had been questioned nine times by RCMP investigators since November 2018.
“We agreed there are about five or six questions to be asked,” Butcher said.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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