Disputes over texts and expert witnesses bog down Christopher Garnier hearing
Blair Rhodes | CBC News | Posted: May 28, 2018 8:17 PM | Last Updated: May 28, 2018
Crown and defence disagree on victim impact statements, text messages at parole eligibility hearing
The hearing to determine how many years convicted murder Christopher Garnier must serve in prison before he can apply for parole became bogged down Monday as lawyers argued over how to proceed.
Garnier, 30, was convicted in December of second-degree murder in the death of Catherine Campbell, the off-duty Truro, N.S., police officer killed in September 2015 in an apartment in central Halifax.
The murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence. Garnier returned to Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax so Justice Josh Arnold could hear arguments on parole eligibility. The Crown wants Garnier to serve at least 16 years before he can apply for release, while the defence suggested about 12.
Efforts to complete the hearing Monday stalled, however. The defence objected to some victim impact statements and to how the Crown wanted to use certain text messages. It was also decided that expert witnesses should be called to testify about Garnier's mental health.
After killing Campbell, Garnier placed her body in a green compost bin and wheeled her through the streets, dumping her remains under the Halifax approach to the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge. Her body was found Sept. 16, 2015.
Garnier testified at trial that Campbell died accidentally during rough sex she had initiated. But a jury convicted him of both murder and improperly interfering with human remains.
Parole eligibility for second-degree murder is between 10 and 25 years.
At the start of Monday's hearing, defence lawyer Joel Pink objected to some of the people who intended to give victim impact statements. He questioned whether two of Campbell's co-workers on the Truro Police Service could be considered victims under the Criminal Code.
Arnold ultimately ruled that all those who submitted statements fit the definition and would be able to present them at the hearing.
Pink also objected to the use of text messages police had extracted from Garnier's phone after his arrest. The messages were exchanges between Garnier and his girlfriend, Brittany Francis, and between Garnier and his mother.
The Crown had not been allowed to use the texts during the trial because they were considered too prejudicial. But Crown prosecutor Christine Driscoll argued they were necessary at the sentencing hearing to counterbalance claims made in a positive character reference Francis had written for Garnier and which was submitted to the court.
Arnold, who had presided at Garnier's trial, ruled the text messages were admissible at the hearing, because they provided a window into what people were thinking at that time. He said they addressed questions of dishonesty, emotional turmoil and recreational drug use.
With the texts admitted into evidence, Pink then called Francis to testify. She said the texts did not provide an accurate picture of her relationship with Garnier because they made it appear as though they were not getting along.
She described the tensions in their relationship as "misunderstandings" that were sorted out once they sat down and talked with one another.
Garnier and Francis broke up on Sept. 10, 2015. She told court Monday it was because he had lied to her about smoking weed. They reconciled on Sept. 11.
In the interim, Garnier had met Campbell in a downtown Halifax bar and killed her in an apartment where he was spending the night.
Francis only became aware of this when police showed up on her doorstep on Sept. 15. Yet she told Driscoll Monday that she did not consider it a lie that Garnier had failed to tell her about his deadly encounter with Campbell.
But the stumbling blocks did not end there and they pre-empted any effort to let victims tell their stories Monday.
The Crown objected to statements the defence planned on using at the hearing. Some were from Dr. Stephen Hucker, a forensic psychiatrist who examined Garnier in preparation for his trial and testified for the defence.
Pink wanted to use elements from Hucker's report at the hearing, including his assessment of Garnier's mental state when he disposed of Campbell's body. The Crown objected, saying they should be able to cross-examine Hucker. Arnold agreed.
The Crown also questioned the opinions of Silvia Frausin, a psychologist who has been treating Garnier for post-traumatic stress disorder. Hucker had made the diagnosis and said it related to the killing.
Pink said he wanted Frausin qualified as an expert witness able to give opinion testimony.
Arranging for both Hucker and Frausin to testify will take time. The hearing has now been put over to two days at the end of August.
The CBC's Blair Rhodes blogged from court Monday. Mobile users can read the blog here.