Trial of two McGuinty aides in gas plants trial gets underway

TORONTO — The so-called gas-plants trial of two former senior political aides heard today how they deliberately destroyed documents in the Ontario premier’s office.
In an unproven opening statement, the prosecution said David Livingston and Laura Miller acted illegally and contrary to the public interest.
The duo had a legal duty to preserve the records, the prosecutor said.

The documents related to the politically-explosive issue of then-premier Dalton McGuinty’s decision to cancel two gas plants ahead of the provincial election in 2011.
Livingston and Miller have pleaded not guilty to charges of breach of trust, mischief, and unlawful use of a computer.
A computer forensics expert for the prosecution is the first witness at the Ontario court trial in Toronto.
In her opening statement of the long-awaited trial delayed by wrangling over disclosure, Crown lawyer Sarah Egan laid out the prosecution’s case.
“Acting together, they destroyed records that they had a legal duty to preserve,” Egan told Judge Timothy Egan. “They acted contrary to the public interest.”
The decision to shut the gas plants — and the $1.1-billion cost of doing so — became an issue of “intense public scrutiny” that prompted various requests for information under access laws. The accused, Egan said, decided to thwart those requests by responding there were no responsive documents.
The deletions, she said, were not inadvertent.
“(Livingston) did this to ensure there was nothing to be turned over,” Egan said.
Their decision to engage Miller’s information-technician spouse, Peter Faist, to wipe hard drives in the premier’s office as a way to get rid of any relevant emails was a “serious and marked departure” from the standards of public trust for the positions they held, the prosecutor said.
The trial, Egan stressed, is not about the costs or wisdom of the gas-plants decision, which is merely a backdrop, court heard.
Following the opening statement, Robert Gagnon, a retired provincial police officer with experience in computer forensics, began testifying as the Crown’s first witness.
The defence raised several objections as the prosecution sought to qualify him as an expert witness, even suggesting he was not impartial.
Lipson has yet to rule on whether he will accept Gagnon as an expert.
The trial is expected to be a six-week trial in Ontario court.