Fate of RCMP officer accused of assaults now with jury
Glenn Payette | CBC News | Posted: November 28, 2016 10:02 PM | Last Updated: November 28, 2016
RCMP constable Cameron Lockhart says he is not guilty.
The fate of an RCMP officer is now in the hands of an eight-woman, four-man jury in St. John's.
Const. Cameron Lockhart, 32, is accused of assaulting two women he had relationships with at different times, in the Bay Roberts area, between Jan. 1, 2009 and Sept. 1, 2011.
Lockhart is also accused of threatening one woman, and with smashing the other's cell phone and, in a rather bizarre incident, destroying some of her jewelry in a jealous rage.
High stakes
The woman testified that Lockhart asked her for jewelry she had received from other boyfriends, and he put five of her rings in his mouth, chewed them and spit them out.
It's alleged that Lockhart choked one woman, hit her in the ear, and pushed her into a counter, all on different occasions.
In the case of the other woman, Lockhart is accused of elbowing her in the eye, and in a separate incident, elbowing her in the back.
Lockhart has denied it all. The stakes are high for him. If found guilty, he would likely see his career as an RCMP officer evaporate.
On Monday, his lawyer, Nick Avis, called the jewelry incident absurd, saying, "It never happened."
Avis reminded the jury that anyone can get charged, and be put on trial, and that Lockhart is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
"Maybe, probably, possibly aren't enough."
He also said that the women didn't go to the police; the police came to them.
"Why didn't they go to the police?" he asked the jury. "Because it didn't happen."
Wouldn't be believed
One woman testified she didn't go to the police because she still cared for Lockhart. Both women testified they didn't complain, because Lockhart had told them they wouldn't be believed given he is a police officer.
Avis said the women and certain witnesses for the crown weren't credible. He said that on the uttering threats charge, they had recounted different stories, but at trial all agreed that Lockhart said, 'Call me back, or I'll beat your face in.'
He said the women and witnesses had conspired to get their stories straight.
Avis also noted that both women wanted to have a relationship with Lockhart after the alleged incidents and after he had broken up with them. He said one even sent him nude pictures of herself after he had supposedly assaulted her.
During his closing statements, Crown prosecutor Jason House said the jury shouldn't read anything into the fact that the women didn't go to the police.
House reminded the jury that Lockhart said that he had been assaulted as well, and didn't go to the police either.
He reminded them that both women had testified that Lockhart told them they wouldn't be believed.
Cell phone incident
House also referred to testimony from one of the women who said Lockhart had smashed her cell phone because she was getting calls from a man she had met in Mexico.
Lockhart had testified he got her a new cell phone because her old one was in bad shape, but House said that kind of "spontaneous gesture" seemed odd since Lockhart never bought her anything else.
The Crown argued that the testimony of both women was forthright, and while there may have been some inconsistencies in their testimony, they were credible given that a lot of time had passed since the alleged crimes.
Lockhart has been suspended with pay since being charged.