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At the top of the week, the fifth in the trial of alleged sexual predator Michael Haaima, proceedings had ground to a dead halt and seemed hopelessly stalled with the defence’s talking about staying charges, Charter applications and a lack of fairness in Superior Court in Kingston.
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Add to that potential scheduling conflicts — Haaima’s lawyer Natasha Calvinho is scheduled at later points on her calendar to be defending an accused murderer in an Ottawa court — and the trial of Haaima was taking on the aspect of Dickens’s Bleak House, a matter so mired as to be exhausting if not endless.
By Friday, though, the trial seemed to be “back on track,’ as Calvinho put it, after conversations and negotiations with the Crown. This seemed to cheer Madame Justice Robyn Ryan Bell, who is presiding over the trial by judge.
According to a schedule revised just before the loss of two court days last week, final arguments were scheduled for the spring of 2026 and a verdict in about a year’s time. As far away as that might seem, that seemed overly optimistic just a few days ago.
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The snag could have been avoided — last week a witness, the sixth complainant to step into the box, failed to understand Justice Ryan Bell’s instructions and contacted an OPP detective during an adjournment while she was under cross-examination.
By Wednesday of this week, however, the trial’s necessary forward momentum seemed to be regained, enough that the schedule might hold up after all.
On Thursday morning, assistant Crown Megan Williams called the seventh complainant to testify against the 40-year-old tech worker and wrapped examination-in-chief shortly after the lunch break, what would qualify as a lightning round.
The Kingston woman, whose identity is protected under the condition of a publication ban, told the court about her relationship with Haaima, which dated to a period of several months in 2010. Her testimony was tied to three charges against the accused: one count of sexual assault, one count of assault and one count of unlawful confinement.
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Haaima pleaded not guilty to these charges and to 93 others, more than 40 charges of sexual assault, 10 charges associated with child pornography and one of bestiality. The Crown expects to call 21 more complainants to the witness box.
According to her testimony on Thursday, the woman described Haaima as “creepy,” “evil,” “dark,” “very angry” and “aggressive,” choking her on at least a couple of occasions. She also testified about one instance when she called the police on him, though under Calvinho’s cross-examination, she told the court that she hadn’t told officers responding to the call about the alleged choking incidents.
“I was intimidated by him standing next to me (while questioned by the police),” she told the court. “I felt pressured.”
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As she had with the previous six women testifying against her client, Calvinho tried to tease out inconsistencies between the witness’ statements to detectives. The points were minor, more to do with the timing of events 15 years ago, and produced nothing like a gotcha moment.
Haaima’s lawyer also put forward the notion that any choking incident was consented to, which the witness resolutely denied. When pressed by Calvinho about her reasons for breaking up with Haaima, the witness conceded that she stayed in the relationship after the alleged choking because she “hoped he would change.” According to her testimony, she dropped Haaima after he gave her chlamydia.
The one point that Calvinho might have scored with this witness more effectively than the previous to testify at this trial was the effect that publicity about the investigation and filing of charges. As she had done with prior witnesses, the accused’s lawyer asked about the effect that the media coverage of the charges filed against Haaima in the summer of 2022.
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Calvinho referenced headlines of stories and details of the long list of pending charges against Haaima, including child pornography and bestiality and asked the complainant about her reaction upon reading them.
The witness told the court the reports spurred her to reach out to police.
“Anything I can do to keep him away from kids and other people, I’m there,” she said.
At the end of the cross-examination Friday afternoon, Calvinho asked the witness if the alleged choking and strangulation had left any marks on her throat. She testified that she had trouble breathing, when Haaima had hold of her neck and almost blacked out, but didn’t remember any visible evidence of injuries suffered.
The trial will resume on Wednesday when the Crown is expected to call the two police officers who responded to the 911 call in 2010.
gjoyce@postmedia.com
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