'This Was Their Alamo': Crown's Closing Arguments in Coutts Trial

Robert Kraychik
  |   July 31, 2024   |   Be the first to comment

Jurors in the trial of Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick heard closing arguments Tuesday. Both men are charged with unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose and mischief over $5,000.

The defendants face additional charges, including conspiracy to murder. The Crown earlier accused the two men of conspiring to murder police officers at a protest parallel to the 2022 Coutts blockade. The Coutts protest was a peaceful and civilly disobedient demonstration against government COVID-19 mandates.

Carbert and Olienick have pled not guilty to all charges against them. Olienick is additionally charged with unlawful possession of an explosive device for a dangerous purpose. 

Marilyn Burns, Olienick's defense counsel, told jurors the RCMP conducted a "disastrous police investigation" at the Coutts protest. She also claimed the federal law enforcement agency "fell short of its job." Burns noted the RCMP’s confusion between Corrie Turcott and Corey Toone, both of whom testified as witnesses in the trial invited by Burns.

"I cannot find a hint of evidence of any agreement to murder police officers between two or more people," Burns stated. She added, "[There is] no evidence [Olienick] was participating in a plan to murder any police officers [and] no evidence of furtherance of a plan to murder police officers."

If Olienick participated in any "plan" or "plot," Burns said it was to "establish cooperation between RCMP and protesters." She recalled her client's invitation to Const. Andy Olford -– the RCMP officer who interviewed Olienick after the defendant's arrest on February 14, 2022 -– to join the Coutts demonstrators.

Burns described the Crown's theory of the defendants conspiring to murder police officers, who were numerous and included specially trained and armed Emergency Response Team (ERT) officers, as "implausible."

Such a plot, she added, would have amounted to "a suicide mission."

Katherin Beyak, Chris Carbert’s counsel, did not contest the Crown’s charge of mischief over $5,000 against her client.

"I'm going to suggest that he is guilty of the mischief count," Beyak stated, adding that Carbert made statements introduced as evidence by the Crown indicating that "he actively participated in the blockade at Coutts."

Beyak told jurors that "there was no conspiracy at all to murder police officers at Coutts." If jurors found, however, that such a conspiracy tool place, "Chris was not a part of it," she said.

Carbert's counsel highlighted the Crown's absence of direct evidence to substantiate its two most severe charges against her client. The prosecution’s case is built upon "theory, conjecture, and speculation," Beyak added.

"Chris [Carbert] took the stand subjected himself to cross-examination," Beyak added, describing her client as "an honest witness."

Prosecutor Matt Dabilowicz presented the Crown's closing argument, which included a description of the Coutts protest as a modern iteration of the Battle of the Alamo.

He described the Coutts protest as a "turning point" for the defendants. "They couldn't let the Coutts blockade fail," he added.

"They plotted to kill police officers if they decided to enforce the law," Dabilowicz stated.

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