Mystery, drama surround another possible Crown witness

A bit of late-in-the-day drama in the courtroom.

Meaghan Cunningham says there are some “late breaking events” that mean the Crown might call another witness and she’ll have more information in the morning.

Megan Savard, Carter Hart’s lawyer, pops up and says, “This is the first time we are hearing about this witness.” Savard asks for a break in proceedings and that Cunningham tell the court in five or 10 minutes if there’s a new witness.

“No, no, no,” Justice Maria Carrocccia says. “Ms. Cunningham is entitled to take time to think about that.”

Cunningham also jumps up and says she emailed all the defence lawyers last night that there may be an additional Crown witness.

“It’s simply not true that she’s hearing it for the first time,” Cunningham says of Savard.

But Savard says the email simply said a person who had been crossed off the Crown witness list was “in Canada and reachable,” and the Crown hadn’t had a chance to speak with him yet.

Cunningham points out there’s a line in the email that says, “It’s possible we may call him in this matter.”

After some back-and-forth about whether the witness is reachable and has been subpoenaed, Carroccia says, “Enough!” (if this were the U.S., she would have used a gavel).

The judge tells Cunningham she can tell the court in the morning if another witness will be called.