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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-07-22, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22,1992. Judge says man not a danger to society Despite the crown's attempts to show otherwise, a Belgrave area man was seen as no threat to soci­ ety by Judge H. Momotiuk and will therefore be permitted to own a firearm. Judge Momotiuk told Acting Crown Attorney Chris Nelligan in provincial court, July 15, that the evidence was not strong enough to prove that Glenn Montgomery, RR1, Belgrave, presented a danger to anyone. The prohibition application hear­ ing was brought forward after sev­ eral firearm related charges were withdrawn due to the absence of the witness Bobby Collins, who was to appear in court last month as a defendant in another incident, but did not show up and can't be found. Prior to presenting his case, Mr. Nelligan told Judge Momotiuk that he would be calling a hearsay wit­ ness, a practice that is permissible in hearings of this type. The first witness was John Shaw of Bluevale, an MTO employee, responsible for snow removal on the county roads. He told the court of an incident some time ago when Mr. Montgomery had gone to the county shed to speak with Mr. For­ rester, a patrol supervisor. Mr. Shaw said when he identified him­ self to Mr. Montgomery "he became erratic" complaining about the way Mr. Shaw was blowing snow on his property. "He said if I did it anymore, he'd shoot me. He said he meant it." Mr. Shaw told the court that he now tries to blow across the other way and has not had any further contact with Mr. Montgomery. Representing himself, Mr. Mont­ gomery said that his grievance was with Mr. Forrester. However, he wanted to know why Mr. Shaw continued to blow snow over his lanes, breaking limbs of his ash trees. "You did it deliberately every year." The crown also called several witnesses who had dealings with Mr. Montgomery over the MTO's reconstruction of Highway 4, which abuts the Montgomery prop­ erty. Amy Viragos a purchase agent who negotiated a settlement with Mr. Montgomery for two narrow strips of land, said that on several occasions he had made threatening comments regarding any persons Steckle no Continued from page 1 Church in Brussels as the Treasurer and is a choir member. As she is self-employed she feels that the time needed to devote to political efforts will not be a conflict. If elected, Mrs. Mclnroy hopes to bring government back to the peo­ ple. "I feel politics is getting too complicated. The little man is not getting his voice heard. I want to be the voice of the people. Living in the centre of the riding, Mrs. Mclnroy feels she has a better opportunity to be in touch with the constituents and hopes to establish a telephone liaison network to fur­ ther help communication between herself and the people. In seeking her candidacy Mrs. Mclnroy says her strongest convic­ tion is to the party. "I'm asking peo­ ple to support the party and when the time comes I hope they will feel free to vote with their own convic­ tions in mind for the candidate they believe to be the one best suited to the task. If that's me all the better." Zurich man starts race Zurich-area farmer and business­ man Paul Steckle announced who might step on the property before a settlement is made. "Once he said that if anyone came on the property before the negotiations were complete, he might end up in jail but that person would be in a worse place," said Ms Viragos. Some of the comments were made during phone calls, while others were made in the presence of Mrs. Montgomery and Ms Viragos' supervisor. She told the court that the first time Mr. Montgomery made such a remark she was shocked and wor­ ried and wouldn't visit the property alone. The matter was eventually resolved without incident, she said. John Bogdanski, a line technician for Bell Canada said he met with Mr. Montgomery in July 1991. They discussed Mr. Montgomery's concern with the settlement delays and with the fact that MTO said he was the source. He expressed frus­ tration with MTO over the fact that the settlement had not been reached. Mr. Bogdanski said, "I was sympathetic, but told Mr. Montgomery that we needed to do some work on the property. He warned me that they would be hurt if they stepped onto his property. He said, T know how to shoot a gun'." Mr. Bogdanski said he had been assured on July 8 that a settlement had gone through, however, it was­ n't settled until early August. He added that Mr. Montgomery was most helpful when the deal was finalized, even helping to dig fence posts despite the fact that he suffers from MS. Peter Agnello an area forestry supervisor with Ontario Hydro said Mr. Montgomery had pointed to a rifle on the wall and warned him also about coming onto the proper­ ty to do any work before he said it was alright. Mr. Nelligan then called Const. Lome Roberts to provide hearsay evidence with regards to an inci­ dent involving a snowmobiler, Mr. Collins, at which time a firearm had been discharged. Judge Momotiuk cautioned Mr. Nelligan that hearsay evidence would only go so far. Mr. Nelligan volleyed back, citing precedents in which hearsay evidence had been used at hearings. "This is not a trial. I am trying to show that it is not in the best interest of society for this man stranger to politics recently his intention to seek the Huron-Bruce Liberal party nomina­ tion. Mr. Steckle says a federal election is expected sometime before the fall of 1993 and he believes in striking early to get the most exposure possible. Mr. Steckle says he has been urged by many to seek the nomina­ tion, not only from within the Lib­ eral party, but from people with concerns. Personally it is some­ thing, he said, he has given consid­ eration to for 27 years but never felt he could spare the time from his family. Now, he said, his wife, the former Kathy Erb, has her own career and their two sons are grown, so feels he is in a position to do it. Though the demands of political life are many he feels its time to give something back to the country. "It may mean some cher­ ished time will have to be given up," he said, "but my family is extremely supportive of that." Steckle, 50, has life-long ties to the riding, still living in the RR2, Zurich farm in which he was bom. Having operated a hog farrow to finish operation for many years, he has a great deal of understanding of the rural needs. He is active in to have a gun," said Mr. Nelligan. During cross-examination, Mr. Montgomery reminded Const. Roberts of the problems he has had with snowmobilers, saying they have often trespassed and caused damage to his property. When he mentioned it to the police, he said, he was told that nothing could be done until he had the name of the offenders. In his own defense, Mr. Mont­ gomery said that he had never pointed a gun at anyone in his life. He took the gun when he spoke to Mr. Collins, who was sitting on a snowmobile at the side of the road, just to get him to tell his name. Mr. Montgomery said he fired the gun into the ground when Mr. Collins refused a second time to tell him his name. "The third time he wouldn't tell me, so I told him to stay off my property, put the gun in the truck and left." "If I thought of harming him I wouldn't have put the gun in the truck," he finished. Mr. Nelligan then asked Mr. Montgomery if he recalled making the statements that the witnesses testified he had. He responded that he had made similar comments. "You have told us that the law hasn't been helpful, so is it fair to say that you'll handle it yourself?" asked Mr. Nelligan. "You've got to do something," said Mr. Montgomery. When asked by Mr. Nelligan if he still had the gun, Mr. Mont­ gomery refused to answer. In his summation, Mr. Nelligan said that discharging a firearm to scare a snowmobiler is not respon­ sible use of a firearm. Nor, he said, is it responsible behaviour to con­ front a trespasser when he's off the property. "The threats he made were to people who were trying to do a job. He feels that the world and the law has it out for him." Mr. Montgomery said that there had been a lot of things building up to this and that after the settlement was reached he had done every­ thing in his power to help the peo­ ple working on his property. "I'll go 75 per cent of the way with any­ body, but when someone tries to buck me, you've got to do some­ thing," Judge Momotiuk said that in ref­ erence to the witnesses testimony community activities and charities and is a faithful member of the Zurich Mennonite Church. He is, as well no stranger to the political arena, having served as councillor and reeve of Stanley Township. He was a member of the Huron County council for nine years culminating with the position of warden in 1985. For the past five years he has been a representative on the Huron County Board of Health. An avowed federalist, Mr. Steck­ le has expressed his concern over the lack of leadership in national government in regards to harmoniz­ ing the regional and cultural differ­ ences of Canada. "We need a strong central government," he stat­ ed. Mr. Steckle says he believes the confidence of the Canadian people needs to be restored, largely by honesty and integrity, which comes first by the leader. The public trust should not be abused, he said, and he will not promise something he cannot do. "This is a wonderful country with opportunities. We have to restore our faith in ourselves and in Cana­ da," he said. there was never any actual use of -a firearm. The threats he said were understandable when taking into consideration that the argument was in respect to a man's property. "I'm not putting the blame on the witnesses, but if the premise is wrong then the acts are," he said. "If the settlement isn't completed they shouldn't be there." Judge Momotiuk added that the threats probably wouldn't have been made had Mr. Montgomery not been angered. In regards to Const. Roberts' tes­ timony, Judge Momotiuk said that the police have duties and discre­ tions to follow before they can Ethel man loses license An Ethel man appeared in Wing­ ham's provincial court on July 15 where he pleaded guilty to an impaired driving charge. Acting Crown Attorney Chris Nelligan told the court that the inci­ dent occurred in Ethel after an OPP constable noticed a car being driv­ en erratically. Mr. Nelligan said the officer followed the car at a speed of 80 kilometres an hour, 20 kilo­ metres above the posted speed limit, and at that speed was unable to gain on the car. The officer caught up with the car, when the driver, Joseph Grubb, 43, pulled into a driveway. At that time a young passenger, a boy of 10 or 12, Mr. Nelligan said, ran into the house. Mr. Grubb also attempted to enter the residence but was apprehended by the officer on the deck where a slight struggle ensued. Mr. Nelligan added that Mr. Grubb was apologetic after the arrest. He was taken to the detachment where he blew 150 and the second . was 140 on the breathalizer tests. Mr. Grubb's attorney Mike Don­ nelly said that the accused is remorseful and the apologetic behaviour he displayed "has been consistent in my dealings with Age of Majority required for dance DANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT C. J.'S Auto Service, Archie's UCO Optimist Club Members & Seaforth Arena For more information call: 527-1272 or 527-0447 BE SURE TO REGISTER YOUR CAR BY CALLING 527-1272 SPONSORED BY OPTIMISTS & SDCC CAR SHOW and 50s 60s DANCE ....................................HI....... ir I ........................................ '■ '...................................................II i Wheels, Wheels WHEELS FRIDAY, JULY 24 Seaforth & District Community Centres Music by "D.J. Cruiser” DANCE $5.00 IN ADVANCE OR $6.00 AT THE DOOR CAR SHOW $1.00 make an arrest that Mr. Mont­ gomery quite likely does not under­ stand. Also, he said without Mr. Collins' testimony, though he does know something happened, it is not from the direct testimony of the witness. He noted that while hearsay evidence is admissible in these circumstances it can also be weighed against the other evidence. "The only weight here is what Mr. Montgomery said. I never got the impression that anyone was in dan­ ger," said the judge, adding that the hearsay evidence was the only neg­ ative. "Otherwise I see a man just trying to do his job on his farm." The application was dismissed. him." Mr. Grubb's license was suspend­ ed in addition to be slapped with a $650 fine. Walden Photography Weddings & Portraits Call Gary Walden 482-7675 PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE. DESIGN AND INSTALLATION Stop by and select your own trees & shrubs from our "large inventory" or from our growing fields. LANDSCAPING 335-3240 Open 7 Days a Week • Dawn Ul Dusk Just East of Bluevale on Hwy. #86