Manitoba judge gives reluctant witness 3 years for contempt

A Manitoba judge hammered a witness Friday morning with a three-year sentence for contempt of court after he refused to testify in a murder trial.

Later in the day, when two other men also refused to testify, Queen's Bench Justice Albert Clearwater convicted them of contempt as well, but postponed sentencing.

Jammal Jacob was supposed to give evidence in the trial of a man charged with second-degree murder in the October 2005 shooting of Winnipeg teenager Phil Haiart.

But Jacob refused to swear an oath or affirm to tell the truth Thursday when he was called to the stand, saying he refused to testify in a trial he did not believe in.

There was a moment of stunned silence in the courtroom on Friday after Clearwater pronounced Jacob's sentence. Clearwater also said he would place a strong recommendation that no parole should be granted until Jacob had served his full sentence.

Clearwater called Jacob's action in court one of the most "serious offences," saying "refusal to be sworn and refusal to answer proper questions benefits criminal organizations."

Feared for safety of family

Jacob agreed to hear the advice of a lawyer Thursday afternoonafter Clearwater urged him several times to do so.However, Jacob's position didn't change overnight, and the judge sentenced him for contempt Friday morning.

Jacob's lawyer, Kathy Bueti, told the judge before sentencing that Jacob was motivated not to testify by safety concerns for himself in jail and his family in the community.

Bruce MacFarlane, a former Manitoba deputy attorney general who nowteaches law at the University of Manitoba, says the sentence sends a strong message.

"I think that there's a reality in the courts at the moment that gang members are maintaining a form of code of silence vis-a-vis their other gang members and I interpret this as a signal by the courts that the judiciary will not put up with this," he said.

2 others also convicted

On Friday afternoon, two other witnesses, Cory Amyotte and Gharib Abdullah, indicated to the court that they would also not take the stand.Both told the judge they understood their rights, but refused to testify.

The judge immediately convicted them of contempt of court.

Amyotte and Abdullah were not sentenced Friday; Clearwater said he wanted to get a better idea of what effect their refusal could have on thetrial before sentencing them.

The case was adjourned for a week while Clearwater and lawyers forthe Crown and defence take part inhearings to determine what evidence can be introduced in the wake of the three witnesses' refusal.

"Well essentially now the question is what evidence, if any, that these gentlemen may have provided at some point in the earlier process is in fact available for the jury to hear at some point," said Jeff Nichols, lawyer for the accused in the Haiart killing, who cannot be named because he was a minor at the time of the shooting.

Turf war

Jacob, the court heard during sentencing, was an "associate" of a Winnipeg street gang that had been involved in a turf war over the drug trade in Winnipeg's West End neighbourhood at the time of Haiart's shooting.

Amyotte and Abdullah were led into the courtroom in shackles, asboth menalready face charges on other matters. They will be held without bail pending their sentencing on the contempt convictions.

Prosecutors allege Haiart and a friend, who was also shot, inadvertently walked intoa gang-related shooting on the October evening.

Clearwater told the jury that the three men's refusal to testify and their convictions forcontempt were not relevant to the accused in the Haiart trial.