TORONTO — Crown prosecutors in the Ontario gas plants trial are now deciding whether to drop some of the charges against David Livingston and Laura Miller. Defence lawyer Brian Gover, who represents Livingston, stood to ask Ontario Court Judge Tim Lipson for “directed verdicts of acquittal” on each of the three charges the two are facing. A directed verdict of acquittal means prosecutors have failed to produce “some evidence” — minimal evidence, in other words — of the essential elements of an offence. They were charged with bribery under the Election Act, but on Oct. 24 in a Sudbury court, Ontario Court Judge Howard Borenstein dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. Neither it nor the cautioned statements Livingston and Miller gave police on which it partially relies are before the judge.

Source: National Post October 31, 2017 23:15 UTC