Comments made about the case in‎ emails and other forums by Gagnon were “the kind one would expect to hear from a partisan police investigator,” not an independent expert witness, Lipson added. “This is a clear case for exclusion,” the judge said in a ruling that took one hour to deliver in ‎court. Lipson said Gagnon was too close to the investigation to be relied upon for impartial interpretation. A retired OPP detective has been rejected as an expert witness for the Crown in the criminal trial of two Dalton McGuinty aides accused of deleting documents related to the cancellation of gas-fired power plants. Gagnon regarded himself as a team member.”Hutchison also told Lipson that expert witnesses must be “independent and impartial” and said recent legal precedents require the court to determine in advance whether expert witnesses are admissible to prevent trials from being improperly influenced.

Source: thestar September 28, 2017 15:45 UTC