SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO

COURT FILE NO.: CR11-17
DATE: 20120808

RE: R. v. Michael Linkie

BEFORE: The Hon. Madam Justice P.C. Hennessy

COUNSEL:
John C. Benson, for the Crown
Michael Linkie, self-represented

HEARD: July 27, 2012

ENDORSEMENT

[ 1 ] Mr. Linkie brought a motion to have me recuse myself on the basis of bias. I dismissed the motion with Reasons to be delivered in writing.

Section 486.3(4) Motion

[ 2 ] The Crown brought this motion originally returnable on March 26, 2012, for the appointment of a lawyer to cross-examine the complainant.

[ 3 ] The Crown is to file supporting material by August 27, 2012. Mr. Linkie is to file responding material by September 27, 2012. The date for the hearing of this motion shall be set at the August 10, 2012, Assignment Court.

Terms of Disclosure

[ 4 ] The Crown originally sought direction from the Court on March 26, 2012, respecting the terms of the disclosure of the Crown brief to Mr. Linkie. Mr. Linkie agreed to the terms of the undertaking subject to his motion to have the matter stayed on the basis of the Crown’s vexatious conduct. I dismissed the stay motion on June 22, 2012, and I now confirm the order made March 26, 2012, respecting the terms of disclosure.

[ 5 ] Mr. Linkie brought a new application on April 20, 2012, regarding terms of disclosure, returnable July 27, 2012. He has not yet filed any material in support. Mr. Linkie has until August 27, 2012, to file his supporting material, and the Crown has until September 27, 2012, to file response material. The matter goes to the August 10, 2012, Assignment Court to set a date for the hearing of this motion.

Problems with Crown Disclosure

[ 6 ] Mr. Linkie has advised the court on three occasions that he cannot open the external hard drive provided to him by the Crown which contains the Crown brief, including the material from his computer and other electronic devices which were seized. The Crown has replied each time that the files must be opened following the instructions provided. Mr. Linkie advised the court that his technical advisor was present and prepared to testify that they could not open the external hard drive.

[ 7 ] In addition, Mr. Linkie asserted that there were other problems with the disclosure:

• The November 11, 2011, surveillance video from North Bay Transit would not open;

• the video of the Walmart incident of December 28, 2009, has two portions missing; and

• a portion of Alice Halme’s notebook with the November 4, 2007, entry is missing.

[ 8 ] I directed the Crown to have an Ontario Provincial Police officer attend the court to open the external hard drive. When we returned to court after the break, Detective Constable Yvan Perron testified that he had met with Mr. Linkie and the Crown during the break and followed the instructions to open the hard drive and that the hard drive had opened without a hitch. Together with Mr. Linkie, they opened three randomly selected files. Mr. Linkie confirmed they had successfully opened the hard drive and opened three files. He stated that it took ten minutes to open a file and that it was too long. He also submitted that the material was not an exact mirror image of what was seized from his computer and he wanted an exact mirror image. Detective Constable Perron is to inquire into whether the Ontario Provincial Police is able to meet that request and report to the court, through the Crown, by August 10, 2012.

Re the Alice Halme Notebook

[ 9 ] Mr. Linkie is to provide to the Crown a thumb drive of the first video interview with Alice Halme where he says the officer read from an entry in Ms. Halme’s notebook dated November 4, 2007. The Crown is then to provide to Mr. Linkie a copy of whatever the officer was reading.

Re the Walmart Video

[ 10 ] The Crown advised that the Walmart video has not been altered and that whatever the Crown received from Walmart has been provided to Mr. Linkie. The Crown is to review paragraph 25 of the material in support of the request for the search warrant, which refers to this video footage, and attempt to locate it on the video. The Crown is to report to the court with response by August 10, 2012.

Re the North Bay Transit Video

[ 11 ] The Crown was to meet with Mr. Linkie on August 1, 2012, at 9 a.m. to open the video.

The Hon. Madam Justice P.C. Hennessy

Date: August 8, 2012