September 5, 2018 I was accused of assaulting Jay Kirkland.  I was arrested, charged with common assault, jailed for 24 hours, paraded around handcuffed behind my back,  locked in a courtroom prisoner`s box, and treated as if I was a serious threat to all of society.  I was humiliated and shamed in the media and on social media.  I lost my seat on council.

The allegations made against me by Jay Kirkland, Janice Jackson and Hailey Mossley were false, and were knowingly false.  The allegations were concocted.

To get a conviction, the crown must prove all three elements of assault beyond a reasonable doubt.  Those elements are:

1. there must be force applied beyond an incidental touch or bump.
2. there must be an intention to assault and an intention to harm,
3. there must be an absence of consent.

The crown did not and could not prove any of these elements. My lawyer provided ample evidence that none of the elements were met.

In entering an acquittal (morneau judgement October 4 2018), Justice Morneau made the correct decision, the only decision she could given the evidence.   I have much respect for Justice Morneau and I am truly grateful for her acquittal decision.

I agree with her observation that “Ms. Jackson was perhaps more sure of herself, yet the evidence demonstrated the some of that assurance was misplaced.”  I read that as a euphemism for “the physical evidence demonstrates that Jackson lied”.

My lawyer Elizabeth Barefoot submitted that Jackson had laughed and said“oooh that’s assault I love it”.  Jackson vehemently denied both.  Then Ms. Barefoot played for Jackson and the court my audio recording, in which Jackson clearly laughed and Jackson clearly said “oooh that’s assault I love it”.   Jackson then changed her testimony from “I did not laugh /I did not say “oooh that’s assault I love it”” to “I don’t recall laughing or saying that”.  ( A transcript of the exchange is here  Transcripts excerpts august 20 and 21 court recording). These are two of the lies Justice Morneau characterized as “[Jackson’s] assurance [of her own testimony] was misplaced”.  Justice Morneau very kindly  characterized Jackson’s lies as memory lapses made because so much time had passed.   I disagree.  In a written statement September 6, 2107, a mere 24 hours after the event, Jackson wrote “I reacted by saying ”that’s assault, stop””.  Not “oooh that’s assault I love it””.  Her lie 24 hours after cannot be blamed on a memory lapse.  It was a deliberate lie. Both were deliberate lies.

Kirkland and Jackson made the same false statement.  It is simply not plausible that Jackson and Kirkland had the same lapse in memory.   They colluded before they made all of their false statements.

Jackson’s biggest lie was her description of the alleged assault.

Jackson stated to police September 6, 2017 [Excerpt Janice Jackson statement September 6 2018} and swore under oath on December 7 2017 excerpt gammiedec7bailrevtrans} and again on August 21 2018 [Transcripts excerpts august 20 and 21 court recording] that a) the door clicked shut, b) Gammie leaped forward c)and leaning forward, not flat –footed, d) with the full force of his body weight hit Kirkland in the back, with two hands, from behind, and e slammed Kirkland’s face and left shoulder into the door, then f) f) hit Kirkland a second time in similar fashion. Then the same testimony on August 20 Link].

In trial I used photographs and drawings [Gammie’s PPT with final slides] to determine and demonstrate my location and Kirlkland’s location through the alleged assault if JJ’s version were true.  I showed what the security video camera could see and what the camera could not see.  In testimony I demonstrated that if Ms Jackson’s version of events were true, I would have been visible to the camera during the lunge/ leap and I would have had to be at least partly visible to the camera during the pushes.  But I was not visible to the camera at all during the alleged lung push/push.  The inescapable conclusion is that Jackson Lied.

Judge Morneau said she “had the benefit of Mr. Gammie’s engineering analysis of what could or could not have happened.   Justice Morneau is by her own admission not overly tech–savy.  So I very much appreciate the time she put into understanding my very technical analysis of what really happened and what did not happen, and my conclusion that Janice’s version was not physically possible.

Justice Morneau said that “Mr. Gammie most likely did push Mr. Kirkland from behind”.   This should not be taken as a finding by Justice Morneau that I assaulted Kirkland or was guilty of assault.  As argued above there are three elements to an assault.  Judge Morneau rightly did not find that I had applied force.  Justice Morneau did not find that a push (if there was one)  was intentional.  And justice Morneau did not find that there was no consent.

The push if there was one was too trivial to be characterized as assault or force applied.

In not finding any of the elements met, Justice Morneau was expressing reasonable doubt about both Kirkland’s and Jackson’s versions.

If anyone out there can demonstrate that it is physically possible for Kirkland’s or Jackson’s versions to have happened without the lunges and pushes being on the security video, please do so.

Until someone does so demonstrate, Jackson and Kirkland are caught in a big lie.

Hailey Mossley lied too, but not under oath.  claimed that: “Craig shoved Jay from behind – hand to Jay’s shoulder”.  sat in the foyer August 21 and 22 waiting to be called to the witness stand.  Ms. Mossley was in the video during the event.  On august 21 Elizabeth Barefoot showed that from where Ms. Mossley was in the video she couldn’t see anything.  It is no surprise that the crown decided not to call Ms. Mossop.  It appears that Ms. Mossop was treward for her effort anyway.

Jackson concocted the lies about what happened and what she had said and then somehow she convinced Kirkland to lie.  All to get me out of the picture.    Because I refused to recognize her claim to power.  Because I dared to publicly disagree.

If Jackson is re-elected, successful candidates will face this situation.   If they speak their minds instead of simply nodding agreement to Jackson’s agenda, they will be harassed and bullied, they will be falsely accused, and they may even be removed from council.

Do you want the head of council trying every trick in the book to get rid of those who refuse to salute her?  Do you want to be in a situation where the only residents with a voice are those that agree with the mayor? Electors beware.

Craig