An Ontario judge viewed the video in which Rob Ford is purportedly seen smoking crack cocaine, and said he will decide “soon” whether lawyers defending a man in a drugs and weapons case with links to the Toronto mayor can see the recording.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer viewed the 90-second video behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon. Nordheimer had told the Crown to bring the video to court, so he can decide whether the defence team can view it.
Lawyers for Mohammad Khattak, who is facing charges stemming from the drug and weapons investigation known as Project Traveller, say their client’s reputation is being harmed by his association with the video.
Khattak’s lawyers argue they should be allowed to view the video to determine whether its contents are relevant to their defence. The Crown has said Khattak is not seen or mentioned in the video.
CP24 reporter Sue Sgambati tweeted from the courthouse Tuesday afternoon the defence team’s argument for being allowed to see the video.
“Defence lawyers now arguing that Khattak needs to see video in order to identify for his civil lawyer ‘leads’ as to who made video,” Sgambati tweeted. The Crown asked Nordheimer to dismiss the defence application.
When court adjourned Tuesday afternoon, Nordheimer said he will issue a decision “as soon” as he can, Sgambati reported, adding that a decision is not likely today.
Khattak can be seen in a widely circulated photograph of the mayor outside an address a confidential informant has called a “crack house” in Etobicoke. In the photo, Khattak and Ford are seen with Anthony Smith and another man. Smith was shot and killed earlier this year.
Criminal lawyer Edward Prutschi said last week that, even if Khattak's lawyer succeeds in being allowed to view the video, that does not mean the public will get to see it, too.
"Most likely, if it is released at all, it's going to be in the context of a disclosure application so the lawyers can get a handle on it and see if it is of any relevance to the defence of their clients," he told CTV News Channel.
Nordheimer is also expected to rule sometime this week on whether the redacted sections of a document police used to gain a search warrant for Ford’s friend, Alexander Lisi, can be made public.
Earlier this month, several hundred pages of the document were released, but many other portions were blacked out in order to protect “innocent third parties.” The documents suggested close ties between Ford and Lisi, who is now charged with extortion for allegedly trying to obtain the so-called crack video.
Police believe Lisi threatened two men, Mohamed Siad and Liban Siyad, both alleged gang members, in an effort to obtain the video after the Toronto Star and U.S. website Gawker both reported on its existence.
Siad and Siyad were arrested in the police raids that stemmed from Project Traveller, during which police also seized a hard drive on which they found the video as a deleted file.
Wiretaps from the same investigation could also be made public soon, if efforts by media lawyers to have them released are successful.
Meanwhile, Toronto City Council is set to debate a motion Wednesday put forward by one-time Ford ally Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong that asks council to petition the province to remove the mayor if he does not step down.
Minnan-Wong,who was until recently one of Ford’s biggest supporters, says the city needs to carry on with its work unencumbered by the ongoing scandal involving the mayor.
The councillor wants Ford to co-operate with Toronto police and apologize for lying about smoking crack cocaine.
“This is all I think easy stuff,” Minnan-Wong told CP24. “And take a leave of absence.”
But Ford’s brother Doug Ford accuses the councillor of playing politics in preparation for a political run.
“You see folks like Denzil Minnan-Wong, the biggest opportunist down here, why doesn’t he come out and tell the people the truth?” Doug Ford said. “Why doesn’t he just come out and say, ‘I’m running for mayor and this is the reason I’m doing this,’ that’s what he should do.”
Minnan-Wong hasn’t announced he’ll be running for mayor, but he didn’t deny he’s interested in the job.
On Tuesday, CP24’s Stephen LeDrew asked Minnan-Wong: “Are you seriously considering running for mayor?”
“Yes,” the councillor replied.
After denying the existence of the crack video, Ford recently admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine, likely in one of his “drunken stupors.”
Another video has since surfaced showing the mayor using threatening and profane language. Ford said that when it was shot, he was “extremely inebriated.”
The mayor denies being addicted to drugs and has vowed to stay in office until voters can decide his fate in the 2014 municipal election.
On Tuesday, Ford shook hands and posed for pictures with residents who lined up at City Hall to purchase a bobblehead doll of him that was created to raise funds for United Way. He sat at a table and signed bobbleheads as people filed past.
He told reporters that he has begun working out, while his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, said the mayor is “getting the support he needs.”
The mayor said Wednesday’s council proceedings will be a “rumble in the jungle,” referencing the famous fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974. Ford has designated Minnan-Wong’s motion a “key item,” meaning it will be debated first thing Wednesday morning.
With a report from CTV’s Scott Lightfoot
