Cross-examination of the defence’s key witness Keith Hobbs is coming to a close at the former mayor’s extortion trial. Crown Attorney Peter Keen is piecing together the connections he believes were involved in the alleged extortion of an over $400,000 house from a local man, who can’t be named due to multiple publication bans.
Keen’s questioning revolved around why the alleged victim’s texts appeared to be panicked following a meeting with Keith and Marisa Hobbs. The crown suggested the alleged victim’s text messages were “frantic”, and show he demanded that Mary Voss sign an agreement because “this is too hot, this too dangerous to wait.” Keen alleged that the victim started to panic because he was threatened by the Hobbses. The former mayor told the court that he never threatened the alleged victim; however, he did tell him he would be going to jail for “a long time.”
Hobbs claims that statement wasn’t a threat, it was a promise. He also explained to the court that he feels the reason the alleged victim was panicked was because he remembered what he did to Mary Voss. The prosecution’s argument is that there was a history of bad behaviour from the alleged victim and that wouldn’t be enough to cause his anxiety.
Keen highlighted text messages between Marisa Hobbs and the alleged victim. In one of those exchanges, the alleged victim suggests Mary must pay for a portion of the house for herself. Marisa responds, “pay?” Keen feels there was an assumption by the Hobbses that Mary wouldn’t have to pay for the house.
Keen suggested that the Hobbses were desperate to cash a cheque from the alleged victim and were trying to leverage the help they provided him in a previous incident involving an unpaid taxi fare. Hobbs told the court, “I wasn’t trying to manipulate [the alleged victim] at all.” Keen suggested that text messages between Keith and Marisa suggest that he was. The text messages read that they should “remind him [about the taxi incident]” and they should just talk to him about cashing the cheque. Hobbs explained those messages just highlight that they were trying to “curry favour” with him so they could get him to work on their business dealings.
Keen’s argument went over timelines of when the Hobbses decided to get involved in getting Mary Voss a house and why they didn’t go to police sooner. The crown’s questioning picks apart Hobbs earlier statements and suggests Hobbs testimony changed over the trial in relation to whether or not Hobbs wanted the alleged victim to watch a series of videos on a USB stick.
Mary Voss’ lawyer George Joseph has called a witness to the stand, that person can not be named. Cross-examination of this witness was quick bringing an end to the evidence being heard in the trial. Court will resume Friday with a decision expected on when closing arguments will take place.
