Forgette does not take stand before final arguments at trial

The legal fate of Sheldon Forgette rests with the judge presiding over the former North Bay deputy mayor's trial on charges of forcible confinement, assault, and two counts of breaching his release conditions.

On the first day of the trial, held Nov. 2, the Crown's chief witness, Christine Campbell recounted her version of the events of the evening of Oct. 9, 2022, and the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2022. Campbell was a common-law partner of Forgette's at the time of the Thanksgiving 2022 domestic incident at the home they shared.

Justice Erin J. Lainevool will render her decision in the coming weeks after the second day of the trial-by-judge moved expediently, with Crown Attorney Stephanie Dixon calling five witnesses — the complainant's best friend and four North Bay Police Service officers — to the stand.

Defence counsel Shawn Hamilton and Forgette were content to move to final arguments without calling a single witness, including Forgette himself.

In Wednesday's testimony, Dixon attempted to nail down the Crown's case that Forgette had not allowed Campbell to leave their residence on Peninsula Road with their infant son following a heated argument, leading to the forcible confinement charge. The Crown submitted in its final argument Forgette blocked Campbell's path from the home in both a walkthrough closet and a stairwell, the latter situation the first NBPS officers on the scene corroborated on Wednesday.

As far as the assault charge, Campbell gave evidence that Forgette threw a glass of water in her face. A small bruise was noted and photographed on the inside of Campbell's wrist. The origin of this bruise was never fully explained but the inference from the Crown is it came from a struggle.

The first charge of failing to comply with an undertaking centres on Campbell's evidence. The complainant took screenshots of an Instagram direct message and a shared calendar app message the Crown contended came from Forgette. Hamilton later disputed the timing and origin of the messages.

The second charge of failing to comply with an undertaking stems from a Dec. 27, 2022, incident involving a meeting to exchange Campbell and Forgette's child. Campbell told police Forgette had illegally attended the arranged meeting spot as she picked up their young son from Forgette's aunt after a Christmas visit with the family. A video was entered into evidence showing a white truck, which Campbell identified as Forgette's, entering the parking lot at the Tim Hortons on Lakeshore Drive nearest the overpass. The truck slows and then appears to rev its engine before spraying snow to the side.

Campbell also secretly recorded audio of the planned exchange and the noise from the truck's engine is audible on that recording. The security video does not have sound. Campbell told police the truck had stopped before accelerating but Hamilton pointed out on cross-examination on Nov. 2 the truck never does come to a stop. Hamilton also submitted to Campbell that she could not have seen the driver due to the tint on the truck's windows and she conceded that point.

The first witness called by Dixon on Wednesday also could not confidently say it was Forgette driving the white Tundra. Shannen McCoy, Campbell's best friend, watched from her home near the meeting spot and testified seeing the truck exiting the parking lot and travelling along side streets in West Ferris.

Court heard, after receiving a text message from Campbell on the evening of Oct. 9, 2022, containing only the word, "Help." McCoy said she attempted to phone her friend but the call was answered by Forgette. In the background, McCoy heard Campbell scream, "He won't let us..." before the line went dead.

"His voice was calm ... her tone of voice was scared," McCoy told the court about what she heard over the phone.

McCoy testified she made a second call to 911 to report the situation but was told the police were already on the scene. On the first trial day, the court heard that Campbell had also called 911 and left the line open with the phone in her pocket.

On cross-examination, Hamilton suggested McCoy knew Campbell and Forgette were having ongoing relationship difficulties and had broken up just over one year before, and McCoy agreed. McCoy also acknowledged Hamilton's suggestion that she had encouraged Campbell to leave Forgette previous to the Thanksgiving 2022 incident.

The two North Bay Police Service officers, Cst. Christina Buckland and Cst. Hogan Smith, who were the first to respond to the 911 call at the Peninsula Road residence, had trouble finding the home, making a wrong turn in the dark off an access road that has many entry and exit points. When they did arrive at the proper address, both officers testified they had noted the position of Forgette's white Toyota Tundra pick-up truck. Both said it blocked vehicles from coming or going. Buckland said they tried to get the police cruiser around the truck and couldn't, so she and Smith parked and walked. The court heard the third officer to arrive, Cst. Douglas MacIntosh (acting Sergeant on that evening), later used Forgette's keys to move the truck so Campbell could leave in her vehicle.

Upon approaching the garage and front entrance to the home, both responding officers testified they heard a female voice saying, "I just want to leave, let me go," through an open window. When they arrived inside, they found Forgette at the top of a narrow staircase with Campbell, who was holding their child, beyond Forgette's position, down the stairs. Buckland testified Campbell could not get by Forgette. Buckland ordered Forgette to give Campbell's cell phone back to her, and he complied.

Buckland and Smith split up Forgette and Campbell to speak with them privately. Both officers commented that Campbell was visibly upset while Forgette was calm, although somewhat defensive in the interactions. Hamilton stressed the point on cross-examination that Forgette was not belligerent with the officers and they agreed he was not. Forgette was then placed under arrest.

MacIntosh took 16 photos at the scene. These were entered as Crown evidence. Among the photos are shots of the wet sweater that Campbell testified she was wearing earlier that evening, a hole in the drywall and corresponding shots of drywall dust on the floor below the hole. MacIntosh's contention is the drywall dust showed the hole had been recently made but Hamilton later disputed this on cross-examination.

Dixon's final argument focused on Campbell's testimony. The Crown said Campbell "did not presume or guess in her evidence," and dismissed the inconsistencies between her statements to police and her recounting in court as due to the traumatic events she had experienced. On the defence building its case around the ease with which Campbell could have escaped the home that night, Dixon reiterated the forcible confinement charge had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the evidence.

Hamilton's final argument also focused on Campbell but in a much different light. With the complainant sitting in the front row in the courtroom, the defence attorney vehemently questioned her credibility. "Miss Campbell, when pushed on cross, did embellish," Hamilton told the court.

It is the contention of the defence that Campbell did not include her alleged confinement in the closet for 10 minutes in her original statement to the police. Hamilton observed there were no marks or abrasions on Forgette's hands that were noted by police.

In seeking to raise reasonable doubt, Hamilton added the complainant, "Speaks clearly when she is dishonest," about these inconsistencies ...The defence does not deny it was an unfortunate set of events ... but punching walls and taking a baseball bat to furniture ... cannot be accepted," by common sense.

With witness testimony and final arguments complete, Justice Lainevool will weigh the evidence and render a verdict later this month.