Messy note a sticking point in dispute over officer's gloves

Crown lawyers in the manslaughter trial of Const. Daniel Montsion have raised doubts about receipts used to prove the Ottawa Police Service purchased the "assault"gloves the officer was wearing the day he arrested Abdirahman Abdi.

Montsion was wearing the gloves when he punched Abdi several times on July 24, 2016. Abdi was pronounced dead in hospital the next day.

Montsion has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in connection with Abdi's death.

On Sept. 11, defence counsel Solomon Friedman filed a series of receipts and invoicesindicating the supervisor of the direct action response team (DART),Sandra Sparling, had approved the purchase of 13 pairs of Oakley assault gloves between 2015 and 2016.

Friedman called the receipts"conclusive" proof that the force considered the gloves approved protective gear.

A matter of interpretation

But the Crown has zeroed in on a handwritten noteattached to an invoice for 11 pairs of gloves, the only reference to "protective" gearamong the receipts.

Friedman told the court he believesthe note reads "protective expense, DART."

Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter argued earlier this week that it actually says "protective eyewear," and may be unrelated to the purchase of the gloves.

The purchase totalalso doesn't match the amount listed on a corresponding invoice.

Perlmutter planned to formally ask the defence for more evidence to clear the matter up. Instead, the defence and the Crown tried to resolve the confusion out of court with an agreed statement of facts on Tuesday.

When they couldn't see eye to eye, the Crown withdrew its complaints altogether Wednesday morning.

Friedman said he was "baffled" over why they couldn't come to an agreement, and said the defence is concerned the matter has been left unresolved.

Defence could call more evidence

The defence put the receipts forward in good faith, Friedman said, and is prepared to call more evidence to clarify the issue.

Montsion's lawyers initially received the receipts from SIU investigators.

An email exchange entered by the defence as a court exhibit shows the receipts came from a member of the Ottawa Police Service at the request of the investigators, and were eventually shared with the Crown and defence.

But Perlmutter told the court he's not prepared to concede that the receipts come from OPS.

Justice Robert Kelly said he doesn't believe any of the lawyers intentionally misled the court, and asked themto resolve the outstanding questions by the end of next week.