TORONTO – Alexander (Sandro) Lisi’s lawyer tells Global News former Toronto mayor Rob Ford will not appear in court today.
Ford had been subpoenaed to testify in Lisi’s extortion case but his lawyer has asked for his client to be excused from testifying until after Ford’s cancer surgery.
The Ward 2 councillor met with doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital earlier this month and told him he will go under the knife May 11 to have a cancerous tumor removed from his lower abdomen.
Lisi’s pre-trial hearing began in March and continues this week at the Old City Hall court house.
The charge against Lisi relates to an alleged attempt to retrieve the notorious cellphone “crack video,” which shows Ford apparently smoking crack cocaine.
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The alleged offences occurred in May 2013 as a drug scandal engulfed Ford, who would later admit to having used the illicit drug.
The judge placed a publication ban on any evidence presented at the hearing – as is normal at this stage of the proceedings.
Lisi, 36, is charged with using threats of violence or other illegal means in an effort to retrieve the cellphone video.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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