Dispute about missing evidence continues to delay sex assault trial of Manitoba doctor

The sex assault trial of a Manitoba doctor has been cut short for a third straight day — and won't resume now until Friday — as a dispute over missing evidence drags on.

The defence team for Arcel Bissonnette on Wednesday also repeated a threat to apply for a complete adjournment of the proceedings if it feels its client's ability to defend himself is being impacted.

Defence lawyer Lisa LaBossiere said she's not yet calling for that, but did request a break until Monday to review some new materials the defence had just received.

"There's no question the defence requires further time … [and] to formulate what [it] is going to do from here," she said.

Crown prosecutor Paul Girdlestone took exception to the length of the requested delay, saying he is ready to go, to call witnesses, and suggested the defence stop making threats and make a choice instead.

"Truly, it's time to decide … one way or the other," he said.

Bissonnette is charged with 22 counts against female patients over the course of 13 years, from 2004 to 2017. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them. 

Bissonnette worked at the hospital and medical centre in the town of Ste. Anne, about 40 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, when the assaults are alleged to have taken place.

LaBossiere first suggested on Monday — when the judge-only trial began in Winnipeg — that an adjournment application was possible if the defence didn't receive what is says are missing correspondences, reports and notebooks from the Sainte-Anne Police Service.

The trial was then adjourned to Tuesday morning with Justice Anne Turner directing the defence to give the Crown a complete list of what they were seeking.

Tuesday's proceedings were even shorter as Girdlestone said he didn't get the list until late Monday and needed more time. On Wednesday, he said everything available had been passed along to the defence.

But LaBossiere said the information came in between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m., and then more followed on Wednesday prior to court. The defence hasn't been able to review it all, she said, calling it "very complicated, technical matters."

"There are very substantial things we need to do."

Rather than have the court reconvene every day simply to face another delay, LaBossiere asked Turner for a break until Monday.

Citing Girdlestone's concerns, Turner called for a return on Friday afternoon and told LaBossiere she expects the defence team to know then if they intend to proceed or appy for a full adjournment.

"I think that's fair, that everyone could know where we're going by Friday," LaBossiere agreed.

As for the missing notebooks of former SAPS officer Jacqueline Lawford, lead investigator on the case for two years, "they're gone, and it's quite clear they're never going to be recovered," LaBossiere said.

She noted the defence team only learned from the Crown on Dec. 21, 2022, that the notebooks had been lost. But some of the new disclosure from Girdlestone shows the Crown was aware of that well before.

Had the Crown informed the defence sooner, some of the current delays could have been avoided, co-counsel for the defence Josh Weinstein said, with LaBossiere adding the SAPS has known since April 2019 that the notebooks were lost.

The trial, if not adjourned fully, is slated to take four weeks with the Crown expected to call 10 witnesses.