[IPSM] Shawn Brant's Trial Begins: Police hoped to keep Brant behind bars

[stef at tao.ca]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
From:    "TMT Support" <support.tmt at gmail.com>
Date:    Fri, June 20, 2008 8:41 am
To:      "tyendinaga_support" <tyendinaga_support at masses.tao.ca>
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Shawn Brant's trial in relation to the racist incident of last April
(charges which have kept Shawn in pre-trial custody for two months)
began yesterday in Napanee.

The trial will continue today, and then likely re-commence on Thursday
of next week.

More details and updates to come.  Please see the below article,
published in the Belleville Intelligencer.

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Police hoped to keep Brant behind bars: defence lawyer
Trial continues today

BY JEREMY ASHLEY
June 20, 2008
Bellieville Intelligencer
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1081124

Provincial police wanted to pin criminal charges on Shawn Brant in
order to keep the well-known protester behind bars during this year's
aboriginal Day of Action, his lawyer charged Monday.

The allegation was levelled by defence lawyer Howard Morton during the
opening day of a trial into a number of charges against Brant
including assault with a weapon, mischief, breach of recognizance,
possession of a controlled substance and carrying weapons dangerous to
the public peace.

The majority of the criminal counts stem from an alleged incident that
occurred just north of Deseronto on April 21 involving a confrontation
between native protesters -- including Brant -- and nearby residents.

On that date, there were a number of native protests and road
blockades in and around Deseronto after a developer promised to forge
ahead with a plan to build on disputed native land.

Consequently, the majority of the trial's inaugural day didn't dwell
on specific details of the incident, but rather was spent setting the
context in which the occurrence took place such as issues surrounding
the Culbertson Land claim, a tract of disputed piece of land that
encompasses a large portion of Deseronto.

However, during cross-examination of the lead investigator of the
incident, OPP Staff Sgt. Robert Hagerman, Morton charged the officer
was selective in who he interviewed regarding the incident involving
the confrontation.

The officer's goal, suggested Morton, was to "make sure he (Brant) was
behind bars" during the aboriginal Day of Action in May.

Further, Morton questioned why provincial police were involved in a
dispute that occurred on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, especially
considering protesters had already contacted members of the Tyendinaga
Mohawk Territory Police (TPS) to look into the incident.

"If this is a TPS investigation occurring in their jurisdiction, why
would the OPP get involved in that investigation and exclude the TPS
from that investigation?" Morton asked.

Hagerman said the two police agencies agreed to work together to probe
the incident -- essentially, OPP would look into allegations made by
non-native residents, while members of the Tyendinaga police would
investigate any complaints made by protesters.

To complicate matters further, Hagerman said the complainant -- who
lives in nearby Deseronto -- didn't want to be involved with anyone
from the Tyendinaga Territory Police Service.

Morton, however, said police took "unprecedented steps" to ensure a
connection between Shawn Brant and the incident was made.

For instance, a fishing spear seized by police when Brant was arrested
was sent to the Centre for Forensic Sciences in Toronto for
examination.

"This was sent to the Centre for Forensic Sciences for an assault with
a weapon case -- have you ever done that before?"

"No," replied Hagerman.

Morton wondered why provincial police, during the course of an
investigation, would send a fishing spear for forensic examination but
not look into allegations by protesters that the complainant was armed
with a club or had struck a woman at the scene with his vehicle.

"Wouldn't you consider it an assault if someone were to be struck by a
car (intentionally)?" Morton asked.

"In some circumstances, yes it is -- in this circumstance, no,"
replied the officer.

Later in the day's proceedings, Hagerman's comments were supported by
Tyendinaga Police officer Nathan Leland.

During his testimony, Leland said the protester who was "nudged" by
the vehicle didn't sustain any noticeable injury and that only one of
the protesters would give a formal statement to police about the
incident.

"I wanted to make sure everything was credible ... but I came to learn
later that Mr. Shawn Brant was at the scene as well," which wasn't
mentioned by any of the protesters at the time, Leland said.

"So the information I received didn't come together, more or less,"
the constable said.

The trial continues today in Napanee.