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Doug McCallum91Ƶs lawyer calls former Surrey mayor a victim of 91Ƶtoxic fanaticism91Ƶ

McCallum chose not to testify Tuesday
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Doug McCallum entering Surrey provincial court. (Photo: Anna Burns)

Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum91Ƶs defence lawyer Richard Peck characterized his client as a victim of 91Ƶanimosity arising from a culture of meanness91Ƶ and 91Ƶtoxic fanaticism91Ƶ in his final submissions Tuesday afternoon in McCallum91Ƶs public mischief trial.

91ƵWhen repeated it amounts to criminal harassment, and repeated it was,91Ƶ Peck told Judge Reginald Harris, who is presiding over the trial in courtroom 101, Surrey provincial court91Ƶs largest courtroom.

91ƵShe despised McCallum,91Ƶ Peck said of Deborah Johnstone, whom the mayor accuses of running over his foot with her car.

Peck said McCallum 91Ƶ a 91Ƶdedicated public servant91Ƶ who as mayor 91Ƶweathered a fair share of criticism91Ƶ from a 91Ƶsmall subset91Ƶ of the population 91Ƶ was taking a break from the 91Ƶhurly burly91Ƶ of public life to do some grocery shopping on Sept. 4, 2021 when the event resulting in his criminal charge occurred.

91ƵFor her, it91Ƶs an opportunity,91Ƶ he told the judge. Peck called Johnstone91Ƶs driving the 91Ƶepitome of reckless.

91ƵIn the process his foot was run over,91Ƶ he said. Once Johnstone saw McCallum in the parking lot, Peck submitted, 91Ƶshe targeted and stalked him. She drove her car stealthily.91Ƶ

McCallum91Ƶs confusion in perception was not surprising given the circumstances, Peck argued.

91ƵHe was startled,91Ƶ the defence lawyer said. 91ƵNaturally there was upset, confusion and distortion of memory.91Ƶ

The Crown was set to make its final submissions on Wednesday, after press time.

McCallum did not testify.

Former Safe Surrey Coalition councillor Laurie Guerra testified Tuesday that her first encounter with Johnstone 91Ƶ the woman McCallum claims drove over his foot 91Ƶ involved Johnstone yelling and swearing at them during an event.

91ƵThe mayor didn91Ƶt react to it. We just thought that was odd behaviour.91Ƶ

Guerra was part of McCallum91Ƶs team on council for four years before her election defeat on Oct. 15. 91ƵUp until yesterday I was a councillor.91Ƶ

She testified that during a council meeting Johnstone was making 91Ƶbizarre91Ƶ facial expressions 91Ƶ 91Ƶkind of goofy looking.91Ƶ

91ƵDebi Johnstone told me to go F myself.91Ƶ

91ƵIt was a shocking display that we never experienced before,91Ƶ Guerra said. She told the court Johnstone showed up at her home with a camera in her hand, along with Merle Scott, wife of Keep the RCMP in Surrey campaign organizer Ivan Scott. 91ƵIn my opinion the line has been crossed,91Ƶ Guerra said, adding she felt 91Ƶterrified.

91ƵI didn91Ƶt sign up for that. It91Ƶs disgraceful.91Ƶ

With that, the defence closed its case.

McCallum91Ƶs first defence witness Tuesday, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Wing, testified before a packed courtroom that the former Surrey mayor91Ƶs medical records from Peace Arch Hospital are consistent with soft tissue injury to his foot. McCallum claims his foot was run over during a parking lot spat in South Surrey.

91ƵThe foot is complex,91Ƶ Wing said, noting it has 26 bones. He teaches at UBC, specializes in foot and ankle injuries and practices at St. Paul91Ƶs Hospital.

Defence lawyer Eric Gottardi asked what role adrenaline plays in recognizing whether you are injured or not. Wing replied it91Ƶs 91Ƶwell recognized91Ƶ that in fight-or-flight situations adrenaline is a factor. A twisted ankle, he noted, might get increasingly sore after the fact.

Gottardi asked if injuries similar to McCallum91Ƶs can arise from 91Ƶsudden stimuli,91Ƶ such as reacting to a car going by, through pivoting or shifting weight.

91ƵThe answer is yes,91Ƶ the doctor replied.

91ƵSomething happened in conjunction with this brief interaction with this vehicle.91Ƶ

During cross-examination, Special prosecutor Richard Fowler noted McCallum claimed his leg and foot was run over and asked Wing if McCallum91Ƶs medical record contained anything about his leg.

Wing told the court McCallum underwent a 91Ƶfoot-slash-ankle exam.91Ƶ Asked if swelling can be caused by aging or high blood pressure, Fowler testified a history of hypertension wouldn91Ƶt 91Ƶtrigger91Ƶ him to expect to see swelling in the foot.

Fowler asked if there was anything in McCallum91Ƶs medical record indicating inconsistency between his left foot and right foot.

91ƵCorrect,91Ƶ Wing replied. He said if the left foot was the source of the complaint he wouldn91Ƶt expect the right foot would be examined.

The former Surrey mayor 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.

Last week, the court heard McCallum told police Johnstone ran over his leg and foot with her Mustang in the parking lot then drove off in a 91Ƶvery dangerous91Ƶ manner. 91ƵI really on this one want to go after her,91Ƶ McCallum told police.

Special prosecutor Richard Fowler said 91Ƶthe question will be91Ƶ if McCallum intended to mislead police into believing she had done something illegal 91Ƶby making false statements to the police with the intention to cause Ms. Johnstone to be suspected of having committed an offence.91Ƶ

The court reviewed CCTV footage from the grocery store91Ƶs entrance looking out into the parking lot where Johnstone confronted McCallum, they had an exchange, she drove off and he then walked to the store. 91ƵIt became unpleasantries between the two of us, back and forth,91Ƶ Johnstone testified. 91ƵIt was a heated debate. I told him he was the worst mayor that Surrey ever had. I told him he was mean-spirited and a liar.

91ƵI swore at him,91Ƶ she testified. 91ƵI made a reference to him having a scaly face. I called him a scaly-faced motherf91Ƶ-er.91Ƶ

Johnstone told the court she drove away slowly because she was in a parking lot. She said her intent was to find parking.

Johnstone said she didn91Ƶt hear, feel or see anything unexpected and doesn91Ƶt recall McCallum saying anything to her as she drove off. Later that afternoon, police told her she was being investigated for assault with a weapon and criminal harassment.

The Crown is proceeding summarily in McCallum91Ƶs trial. A summary offence in B.C. is considered to be in the realm of petty crime and under the Criminal Code of Canada is the least serious type of offence.

After a 13-year break from the mayor91Ƶs chair, which he occupied from 1996 to 2005, McCallum was sworn in by a judge on Nov. 5, 2018 for his fourth term as Surrey91Ƶs mayor. Brenda Locke, of Surrey Connect, defeated him for the mayor91Ƶs 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 told the Now-Leader last week she instructed city staff 91Ƶto seek outside legal for an opinion regarding the city91Ƶs obligation.91Ƶ

Meantime, the court heard last week the Surrey RCMP had a seven-member team investigating McCallum91Ƶs complaint.

91ƵPretty extraordinary isn91Ƶt it?91Ƶ defence lawyer Richard Peck, K.C., asked Crown witness Sgt. Andre Johnny, the prime investigator, to which the officer replied, 91ƵNo.91Ƶ Johnny told the court he couldn91Ƶt conclusively say whether McCallum91Ƶs foot had been run over.

McCallum91Ƶs 911 call reporting the alleged hit-and-run was played in court, with him telling the dispatcher Johnstone 91Ƶjust about hit me, actually91Ƶ and 91Ƶshe ran over my leg and foot.91Ƶ

91ƵShe91Ƶs harassed me before,91Ƶ McCallum told the dispatcher. 91ƵShe called me a piece of shit.91Ƶ

Asked if he needed an ambulance, McCallum told the dispatcher he could drive with his right foot to hospital but his left foot was 91Ƶvery numb.91Ƶ McCallum later told the Surrey RCMP during a 58-minute interview at the station that 91Ƶshe just floored it. I thought she was going to peel rubber.91Ƶ

91ƵIt looked like she just purposely wanted to clip me,91Ƶ he said.

McCallum told the police officer he went to Peace Arch Hospital and underwent seven X-rays which, he said, revealed soft tissue damage but no broken bones.

McCallum91Ƶs defence began its case with a declaration that the evidence presented by the Crown falls 91Ƶmarkedly short91Ƶ of the criminal standard of proof to support a conviction.

Gottardi called as a witness Dennis Chimich, a biomechanical engineer and expert in injury causation. Chimich determined there was a mass of 413 kilograms over Johnstone91Ƶs right rear wheel, that the vehicle 91Ƶrolled over91Ƶ McCallum91Ƶs foot as he was 91Ƶrelatively91Ƶ standing still, and that feet can be run over resulting in no fractures.

91ƵBone injuries are not to be expected at low speed,91Ƶ he said. The absence of fractures in McCallum91Ƶs case 91Ƶdoes not mean that his foot was not run over.91Ƶ

He brought out a skeleton foot model in court as a visual aid. They also discussed a journal called 91ƵFoot and Ankle International,91Ƶ which drew some chuckles from the gallery.

During cross examination, Chimich told Fowler he didn91Ƶt calculate horizontal acceleration but 91Ƶused mass as my guide91Ƶ for vertical force. He did not know the state of the tire91Ƶs inflation, he said, nor did he physically examine McCallum91Ƶs shoes but saw photos. Fowler asked him what minimal force is required to cause visible injuries on a foot inside a sock and shoe. 91ƵI don91Ƶt know,91Ƶ Chimich replied.

The defence91Ƶs next expert witness was Bradley Heinrichs, a mechanical engineer and expert in accident reconstruction and video analysis A frame-by-frame review of CCTV footage from the grocery store shows McCallum91Ƶs arm 91Ƶjerk back91Ƶ as the tire passes, Heinrich noted. He said he went to the scene and used a laser scanner to create a 3-D scan of the parking lot, which was shown in court. Heinrichs said the video was not capable of telling him if there was a limp or change in McCallum91Ƶs gait after the incident. 91ƵI couldn91Ƶt tell,91Ƶ he said.

A third witness for the defence, radiologist Dr. Hamed Basseri, works at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock. He testified he found no X-ray evidence of a fracture in McCallum91Ƶs left foot but 91Ƶmoderate91Ƶ soft-tissue swelling on the outside of the foot 91Ƶtoward the small toe.91Ƶ During cross-examination, Basseri told Fowler he never physically observed McCallum91Ƶs foot and did not observe any X-ray of the right foot. He told the court he was not able to say if there was swelling on the day before Sept. 4 or earlier.



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

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