A Calgary trucker arrested as co-organizer of the Freedom Convoy sought to move his trial out of Ottawa, where he is worried potential jurors are more likely to have a bias against him. Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland has ruled against James Bauder’s bid.
Ottawa residents are mainly “federal employees, federal contractors, lobbyists and lawmakers,” Bauder said at a hearing on Feb. 3, according to Blacklocks Reporter. ”The character and personality types in Ottawa are government workers and the convoy was a protest against government overreach,” he said.
It would thus be difficult, he said, to find suitable jurors for his June 5 trial. He is charged with mischief to obstruct property, disobeying a lawful court order, and obstructing a peace officer. Bauder asked that his trial be moved to North Bay or Brockville, Ont.
“These government employees are not my peers,” Bauder, who was representing himself, told the court.
Hackland wrote in his decision: “I find Mr. Bauder’s concerns about the attitudes of persons employed by the federal government is baseless in fact and boils down to his concern most Ottawa residents do not share his political views.”
“There is no right to be tried by persons who share one’s political views,” Hackland said. “Mr. Bauder is not on trial for his politics, but for his alleged criminal conduct.”
Hackland said jury bias may come in the form of residents who felt they suffered disruption during the protest, that their businesses were obstructed or that the convoy blocked their neighbourhoods. But, he said, this concern should be addressed by the usual procedures for screening jurors.
“We do not as a society expect our jurors to be a tabula rasa devoid of any political views. Rather, and with the assistance of robust procedural safeguards, we trust jurors to leave their views at the door of the deliberation room and decide the case on the evidence, as per the trial judge’s instructions,” Hackland said.
