Special Crown prosecutor Richard Fowler said 鈥渘o amount of hostility can justify making false statements to police鈥� in his final submissions Wednesday at former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum鈥檚 public mischief trial in Surrey provincial court.

鈥淎s a whole, it is clear that the essence of the complaint was that the running over his foot was a deliberate act that occurred after he had been pinned, to use his word, against the back of his car,鈥� Fowler said. It wasn鈥檛 a hit-and-run, Fowler argued, as driver Deborah Johnstone remained in the parking lot after her encounter with McCallum in which he alleges she purposefully ran over his foot.

鈥淎 hit-and-run is very different than a deliberate attempt to hit me,鈥� Fowler noted.

McCallum had time to think and reflect on what happened in the four hours after the incident, Fowler said. 鈥淗e had time to make sure what he told the police was going to be accurate.鈥� The 911 call, he noted, was made more than two hours later.

鈥淎nd in that two hours Mr. McCallum had gone grocery shopping, had spoken to the protesters, the people who were collecting signatures.鈥�

The former mayor is not someone without sophistication, Fowler noted. 鈥淥f course he was, he was running the city.鈥�

McCallum used the word 鈥減in鈥� more than 11 times, Fowler said. He argued that McCallum had made false statements to police that 鈥渃learly were designed to intentionally mislead them, purposefully causing someone to be suspected of having committed offences they did not commit.鈥�

鈥淗e said she had pinned him,鈥� Fowler told the court. 鈥淭hat simply did not happen.鈥�

Fowler said McCallum鈥檚 statements to police weren鈥檛 鈥渟imply reckless hyperbole. In other words, they weren鈥檛 statements that were made in the heat of the moment, with no time to quietly reflect on what had just happened.

鈥淎 review of the CCTV video footage clearly shows that Ms. Johnstone had not committed any of the offences suggested by Mr. McCallum鈥檚 statement.鈥�

Fowler told Judge Reginald Harris that what he needs to decide is if McCallum鈥檚 was a complaint that his foot was run over, or was a complaint that his foot was deliberately run over after he was pinned to the back of his car.

鈥淚f in fact Mr. McCallum鈥檚 foot was run over, in my respectful submission he has intentionally exploited what was an obvious accident by deliberately characterizing it as something it was not,鈥� Fowler said. 鈥淭he only reasonable inference in my respectful submission is that the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of mischief. You can be sure he made false statements, you can be sure he intended to mislead. You can be sure he causes Deborah Johnston to be suspected of commiting an offence she did not.鈥�

Before that, defence lawyer Eric Gottardi told Harris that the 鈥減rimary reason the Crown鈥檚 case has failed is in fact his foot was run over,鈥� and that it is 鈥減reposterous鈥� to suggest there was an attempt at public mischief on McCallum鈥檚 part. He asked for an acquittal.

鈥淭he Crown cannot prove that the accused communicated false information to a peace officer,鈥� Gottardi argued.

McCallum鈥檚 trial is in its second week.

He is charged with one count of public mischief stemming from an encounter on Sept. 4, 2021, between himself and a group of volunteers that was gathering petition signatures outside the South Point Save-On-Foods store in South Surrey for a referendum on the policing transition.

After a 13-year break from the mayor鈥檚 chair, which he occupied from 1996 to 2005, McCallum was sworn in by a judge on Nov. 5, 2018 for his fourth term as Surrey鈥檚 mayor. Brenda Locke, of Surrey Connect, defeated him for the mayor鈥檚 seat in the Oct. 15 election by 973 votes. Locke and the new council were sworn in on Monday night (Nov. 7). One of her election promises was to make McCallum pay for his own legal costs in this case, rather than Surrey taxpayers having to foot the bill. Locke said she鈥檚 instructed city staff to that end, 鈥渁nd that they are to seek outside legal for an opinion regarding the city鈥檚 obligation.鈥�

The trial continues.

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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