Keith Hobbs extortion trial started bumpily and came to an end in a similar fashion. Technical difficulties caused the three-week trial to be delayed and ultimately led to the courtroom being changed for the proceedings.
Thursday the proceedings were delayed again because of technical difficulties with equipment and then later to allow for the Hobbses to drive to Wawa. The couple were stuck in northeastern Ontario following a lengthy highway closure near that community. Once they arrived in Wawa the judge allowed them to listen to the proceedings via their cellphone.
Crown Peter Keen told the court the accused were “driving the bus” in relation to allegations of extortion. His main focus for his argument surrounded the fact that Keith Hobbs drafted and read out the separation settlement detailing the purchase of an over $400,000 house. He also highlighted that text messages reveal that the alleged victim was concerned he was being extorted by Mary Voss and the Hobbses, and that his concern only arose following the Hobbses involvement with a series of graphic videos. Keen feels text messages also show that the Hobbses were actively manipulating the alleged victim before they found out about those videos. The prosecutor also claims that the alleged victim was a drunken mess and wasn’t capable of “driving the bus” in this extortion case.
For the Hobbses defence, Brian Greenspan told the court that the alleged victim initiated the creation of an agreement to purchase a home. The defence lawyer says the alleged victim “willingly entered into this agreement- not because of any threats or inducements, and not because he was coerced into doing so.” Greenspan feels “the crown has not established beyond a reasonable doubt that either Keith or Marisa Hobbs threatened, or was a party to, a threat that coerced the alleged victim to enter into this agreement.”
Voss’ lawyer George Joseph also reviewed what he felt the major facts in this case were. In OPP video taped interviews with Voss, the local woman continued to promote she was innocent and had done nothing wrong.
Voss and the Hobbses are accused of trying to get an over $400,000 house from an alleged victim who can’t be named due to a series of publication bans.
The out-of-town judge is expected to make his decision on February 20th.
