We know that our faithful readers (and critics) have been waiting for a report on Jonny’s testimony at the continuation of his criminal trial on November 20 & 21. The general rule in Canada is that court hearings are open to the public and may be reported in full. However, courts also have significant powers to protect the integrity of the courts’ processes – for example, taking pictures of the court while in session, either in person or online or commenting on the veracity of either evidence or testimony.
We respect that and do not in any way want to jeopardize the outcome, giving Jonny grounds for appeal. However, we can report on the highlights.
The highlight of the two days was, of course, Jonny’s testimony. On the first day, he was gently examined by his defence lawyer, which included playing a 911 emergency call that Jonny made before he assaulted Gerald Funk as well as the Strata’s security tape of the incident. The other highlight was Jonny’s service dog chewing through its leash and getting away from him, disrupting the court so much that the judge left the bench until the “trained” service dog could be caught and brought back under control.
Jonny was very forthcoming, he loved being on the stand, being the centre of attention, going into great detail about what happened. It was an amazing performance. Observers wondered why the Crown did not object to his ramblings (as did the judge at one point) or the entering of a recording from Miriam’s IPAD of the incident that Jonny proudly proclaimed that with his 16 years of tech and marketing experience, he cleaned it up so that it could be used as evidence. It is now on the official public record that Jonny knows how to alter and manipulate evidence.
It was entered unchallenged by the Crown, much to the surprise of even the judge & the defence. You know something is up when evidence is introduced, not by the defence lawyer saying that they wish to enter something as Exhibit “X” but rather introducing it as my client wants this entered as evidence. That subtle difference may have been lost on the legal genius but not on the rest of the viewers, especially the Crown & Judge.
The Crown’s strategy became apparent the following day when he basically crucified Jonny on the stand using his own words, evidence and observations. It was so bad for Jonny that he became monosyllabic in his answers, often raising his voice in frustration that he could not use the transphobic accusation against the court, although he did against the strata residents and council. He began flailing around, trying to divert the Crown’s line of questioning, but the judge kept stopping him by asking if it happened during strata or what the relevance was. It was noted that Jonny’s attorney remained stonily silent during the time. Not objecting or offering to help him in any way.
The best diversions included a statement about an “Indian” assaulting his service dog (Who? A great Afghan Kabab employee or a First Nations person) as well as him having been a victim of sexual assault. Everyone held their breath, waiting for him to name names, but the judge had had enough and basically told him to shut up if it wasn’t relevant to the charges, but Jonny kept talking OVER the judge. He did that several times during the 2 days.
Actually, Jonny’s disrespect for the court was, at times, breathtaking. When cornered on the stand, he announced that he was getting agitated and wanted the court to treat it as a medical emergency to let him off the stand – it didn’t. Frequently called the Crown by his first name, and our absolute favourite was basically telling the judge that he did not know the law, as well as Jonny, did – him being a student for many years studying the law as well as being a third year criminology student. At this point, his lawyer put her head in her hands, and one of our friends pointed out that the judge was a student for many years as well, but he passed his courses, got his law degree and served with sufficient distinction that he was appointed to the bench. Jonny just keeps taking community access courses to keep the student loans flowing.
There are just too many highlights that rather than listing what our team can remember, we invite our readers to enter their favourite moments in the comment section below.
Was it Jonny’s sensitivity to references to his size by the strata witnesses, was it an assault on my service dog is an assault on me, or that the claims he was assaulted 6 – that’s right 6 times that day at the strata or perhaps, Rexy was psychologically damaged by the events of that day at the strata. Thats it for this Jessica Yaniv Assault Trial.