OTTAWA – A key witness in the Duffy trial is in ‘grave’ health and may not live to testify, Duffy’s defence lawyer suggested Wednesday.
Gerald Donohue, whose companies received $65,000 in Senate contracts over four years from Duffy, was slated to testify by video link from Carp, Ont. this week.
But after being released from hospital for unspecified health concerns, the date was pushed back, Crown prosecutor Mark Holmes said.
“We learned one or two days ago this week will not work for him,” Holmes told the court.
Duffy’s lawyer Donald Bayne said every effort should be made to get Donohue on the virtual stand immediately.
“Mr Donohue’s health is a grave concern, and every reasonable effort should be made to get him in next week because he may not be with us,” Bayne said.
“I don’t want to invade his privacy about the details of his health concerns but they are grave.”
Donohue’s testimony is one of the missing links in the trial so far.
Court heard that Duffy awarded Donohue’s companies, first Maple Ridge Media and then Ottawa ICF (insulated concrete forms), with research and consulting contracts for media monitoring, speechwriting and other project work.
But that work was never done, the RCMP alleges, and instead Donohue paid for other services Duffy never claimed, such as a makeup artist, a volunteer in Duffy’s office, and a personal trainer “consultant.” The $300 makeup charge was initially rejected by Senate finance, court has heard.
Donohue money was also given to Duffy’s cousin for mailing newspaper clippings, to journalist Mark Bourrie for help with Internet “trolls,” and to speechwriter L. Ian MacDonald.
Duffy faces 31 charges of fraud and breach of trust, and one for bribery, relating to his travel and living expense claims and the $90,000 former chief of staff Nigel Wright gave him to repay the money.
Of those fraud and breach of charges, eight have to do with Donohue’s contracts.
Bayne said he was anxious for Donohue, a friend of Duffy’s whom he met at local Ottawa TV station CJOH, to testify.
“I think the interests of justice and truth require his evidence. I think in Mr. Donohue’s absence, the Crown will be quite content to proceed on with these charges just on the paper evidence,” Bayne said.
“The full story needs to be out about Mr. Donohue and his involvement.”
Ontario Court judge Charles Vaillancourt replied, “I have no doubt the Crown wishes to have that witness as soon as we can and next week seems to be hopefully in the agenda.”
READ MORE: Duffy charged taxpayers more than $12,000 for personal trips to funerals, documents allege
Meanwhile, the trial was further delayed until Monday while the Crown and defence prepare arguments about the admissibility of a 2010 Senate report.
Bayne wants to use to it in his continued cross-examination of former top finance official Nicole Proulx, while the Crown says the report, based on an Ernst & Young audit of the Senate, amounts to hearsay and opinion in this case.
The report, which has been released as an exhibit but not yet as evidence, was written by the Senate’s board of internal economy committee based on the audit.
It found that some administrative policies were “outdated, inadequate, or non-existent,” and in certain instances policies were “poorly-communicated and/or not well understood by users.”
Vaillancourt said he will listen to the arguments Monday and make a decision later in June. Proulx, who spent six days on the stand and faced a grilling about the lack of Senate expense rules, will also come back at that time.
The first part of the trial is scheduled to wrap up by the end of next week, and resume again from June 1 to June 19.
The judge has said it will likely go long, and Bayne has asked for three to six more weeks next fall or winter, which could coincide with this year’s Oct. 19 federal election.
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