Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Rob Ford Subpoenaed To Testify In Friend's 'crack Video' Extortion Case

Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press, 05 Sep, 2014 12:48 PM
    TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford has been ordered to testify at his friend's "crack video" extortion hearing in a case his lawyer said Friday was driven by police, not because the two alleged victims complained.
     
    Ford, who is in the final weeks of campaigning for re-election, would only confirm having been served with a subpoena but refused to discuss the issue further.
     
    "Everything now is before the courts and I suggest you talk to (my lawyer)," Ford said.
     
    In an interview with The Canadian Press, Ford's lawyer Dennis Morris said he didn't know what information the mayor might have that could bolster the Crown's case against Alexander (Sandro) Lisi.
     
    "This chap's charged with extortion so I have no idea why the mayor's in any way related to that but we'll find out."
     
    Police allege that Lisi used threats, violence or "menaces" to try to force alleged west-end gang members Mohamed Siad and Liban Syad to hand over a cellphone video apparently showing the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
     
    Morris said it appears police took it on themselves to charge Lisi with extortion.
     
    "I don't think the alleged complainants complained at all to any police officer," the lawyer said. "The police intercepted conversations and they turned them into complainants."
     
    Word of the so-called "crack video" — which first surfaced via the website Gawker and the Toronto Star in May 2013 — sparked a firestorm of scandal that saw council strip Ford of most of his mayoral powers and ultimately prompted him to enter rehab earlier this year after he admitted to using crack cocaine and binge drinking.
     
    Ford will have to testify at Lisi's preliminary hearing in March in line with the subpoena, which the lead investigator in the case, Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux, served on the mayor outside his mother's home last week.
     
    "It was pre-arranged," Morris said. "The police wanted to serve him and they were doggedly determined to do so and he was served."
     
    News of the subpoena initially broke more than a month ago, prompting Ford's brother, Coun. Doug Ford, to accuse police Chief Bill Blair of leaking the information. The councillor retracted the comments and publicly apologized after Blair threatened to sue.
     
    Ford, who has frequently challenged police to charge him if they had any grounds to do so, has refused to talk to police. That won't change, Morris said.
     
    The lawyer called the alleged incidents "history" that happened "a long time ago."
     
    Ford has also been trying to put distance between the missteps that made him a household name and TV celebrity in much of North America and his current post-rehab self.
     
    Following a candidates debate on Thursday, the mayor refused to discuss the scandals or the ongoing police investigation.
     
    "Guys, we've gone down this. This is like the oldest news around," Ford said.
     
    "Those days are gone. I'm doing what the taxpayers want me to do."
     
    Recent opinion polls suggest Ford is well behind front-runner John Tory in the Oct. 27 mayoral race but that he remains a strongly viable candidate despite the numerous problems he has had to face.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Harper wades in on Scottish referendum says divided UK not in global interest

    Harper wades in on Scottish referendum says divided UK not in global interest
    Breaking up the United Kingdom would not serve the greater global interest, nor the interest of ordinary people throughout the country, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

    Harper wades in on Scottish referendum says divided UK not in global interest

    NATO leaders to close the book on Afghan war amid Kabul political standoff

    NATO leaders to close the book on Afghan war amid Kabul political standoff
    NATO leaders began their summit by discussing what feels like yesterday's war.

    NATO leaders to close the book on Afghan war amid Kabul political standoff

    Baird hears Kurdish plea for heavy weapons, helicopters to fight ISIL

    Baird hears Kurdish plea for heavy weapons, helicopters to fight ISIL
    Northern Iraq's Kurdish government used a visit by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to make an urgent plea for heavy weapons to fight the rampaging terrorist insurgency in the country.

    Baird hears Kurdish plea for heavy weapons, helicopters to fight ISIL

    U.S., Britain challenge NATO to meet ISIL crisis

    U.S., Britain challenge NATO to meet ISIL crisis
    A meeting of NATO leaders convened in Britain today facing no shortage of crises and a challenge from two of its dominant partners to confront a virulent new form of Islamic extremism in the Middle East.

    U.S., Britain challenge NATO to meet ISIL crisis

    Two people remain in critical condition following tour bus crash in B.C.

    Two people remain in critical condition following tour bus crash in B.C.
    Health officials say two people remain in critical condition following a tour bus crash along a mountain highway in British Columbia.

    Two people remain in critical condition following tour bus crash in B.C.

    Northern Gateway pipeline unlikely to start up by 2018, project president says

    Northern Gateway pipeline unlikely to start up by 2018, project president says
    The president of the Northern Gateway pipeline says the possibility of a 2018 start-up date is "quickly evaporating."

    Northern Gateway pipeline unlikely to start up by 2018, project president says