EXCLUSIVE: Evidence exonerating Freedom Truckers organizer Tamara Lich ‘overwhelming,’ proves there is ‘no case,’ no crime: defense attorney

The trio of defense lawyers are laying out their case for the innocence of the pair who helped organize the trucker protest against Covid mandates that attracted world attention in February 2022.

Defense lawyer Eric Granger took the stand in the morning and argued against the admissibility of the Carter application, a legal mechanism that the Crown suggests links the actions of both Lich and Barber as “co-conspirators.”

The trial resumed last Tuesday after a hiatus, with defense lawyer Diane Magas arguing that “the freedom to protest does not become unlawful” because there's a large number of people, ”especially when that protest is 'unprecedented' in terms of numbers and length of time for everybody in Canada."

Granger suggested there is one area where both the Crown and defense agree: the evidence.

“The Crown characterized this as a case where the evidence was largely not contested. And on behalf of Ms Lich, Your Honor, we, in large measure, we agree with that. We agree that large elements in this case were overwhelming,” he said.

But he said the evidence demonstrates “nothing unlawful on the part of Ms. Lich.” Granger noted that the Crown keeps talking about “context [being] taken into account” but “even when the context is taken into account and properly considered, as Your Honor, is required to do so, there still remains no case against Ms. Lich.”

Granger said the prosecution has been unable to cite a single example of Lich actually breaking the law. During Granger’s summation, Judge Heather Perkins-McVey acknowledged that there was no evidence Lich “ever blocked a street or a road.”

Granger spent considerable time arguing that Lich did not work in concert with Barber, who, as testimony on Thursday demonstrated, spent much of his time as a trucker driver liaising directly with other truckers, discouraging them from blocking traffic.

He also noted that there were many groups and individuals protesting under the “umbrella” name of Freedom Convoy and neither Lich nor Barber can be held responsible for the actions of everyone. Granger noted that many people “appropriated” the term “Freedom Convoy” but may not necessarily have been part of the trucker convoy that left Western Canada for Ottawa on Jan. 28, 2022.

After showing a series of videos that showed the “only times that [Lich] was on the ground in Ottawa” speaking to Freedom Convoy participants, Granger and Perkins-McVey engaged in a conversation about the meaning of “hold the line” a phrase identified with Lich. The Crown has argued it has a sinister, insurrectionist meaning. Granger argued that it merely means “remain” and not “remain and do unlawful things.” The judge said the phrase can “mean different things” depending upon the context of the video.

The courtroom was about half-full with members of the public, some of whom have been regulars at the trial. During lunch hour and at the end of the day, they moved outside to offer support to Lich and Barber as they exited the courthouse.

Both Lich and Barber have pleaded not guilty to charges of mischief, intimidation, obstruction and other counts related to their roles in organizing, promoting and raising money for the Freedom Convoy trucker protest. The two did help organize that protest in February 2022, which galvanized opponents of Covid mandates. The protest was abruptly halted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act that brought down the full force of the police on the protest in the nation’s capital.

The trial began on Sept. 5, 2023. Defence lawyer Lawrence Greenspon has previously told The Post Millennial that he has experienced murder trials that have not lasted as long as this trial, which may be the longest mischief trial in Canadian history. He is scheduled to deliver his summation Friday.