Judge in Coutts murder-conspiracy trial warns jury about defence statement

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — The judge in the trial of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., has cautioned the jury about an opening statement by a defence lawyer.

Marilyn Burns said Thursday the accused were worried politicians were leading Canadians into a civil war or a totalitarian state and that they would have to defend themselves.

She called the trial political and “un-Canadian,” and she alleged police took orders from politicians and lied under oath as witnesses in the case.

“There is no evidence that either the police or the Crown or the court has been acting under the influence of the political sphere,” Justice David Labrenz told the jury Friday.

Labrenz said the jury’s only job is to determine, based on the evidence, whether the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.

The judge reminded jurors that theories presented by the Crown or defence are not evidence. He said Burns, who represents Olienick, was not speaking on behalf of Carbert.

The two men were arrested after police seized weapons, ammunition and body armour from trailers at Coutts in 2022.

The blockade tied up traffic for two weeks at the busy Canada-U.S. border crossing in a protest of COVID-19 measures and vaccine mandates.

The trial previously heard from three undercover Mounties who posed as volunteers at the blockade.

They testified Olienick said he believed police were the tools of “devil” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and deserved to be hanged. They said he told them if police raided the blockade, he would “slit their throats.”

The trial also heard Carbert sent his mother text messages warning of a war, saying he was prepared to die.

Olienick and Carbert are also charged with mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick faces a further charge of being in possession of a pipe bomb.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2024.

— By Bill Graveland in Calgary

The Canadian Press