Boris Panovski’s lawyer to make case for directed verdicts

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ST. THOMAS – Boris Panovski’s defence lawyer wants the judge to consider acquittals for the two charges he faces before she decides whether to call any further evidence at a lengthy murder retrial.

Defence lawyer Margaret Barnes told Superior Court Justice Marc Garson Thursday at the closing of the Crown’s case she plans to argue for directed verdicts on Friday morning in the decade-old case involving the shooting death of a Toronto-area businessperson and the wounding of his wife at a Huron County wildlife area.

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Panovski, 80, a former high-flying dog breeder, has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder of Donato Frigo, 70, and not guilty to attempted murder of Eva Willer Frigo, 56. The couple were shot while riding horses at the Hullett provincial wildlife area north of Clinton on Sept. 13, 2014.

Directed verdict motions at trial are not unusual. The legal test for a judge is whether there is any evidence at a trial “upon which a jury properly instructed could return a verdict of guilty.”

Barnes told Garson she plans a one-hour argument. “It is my intention, 100 per cent, particularly with the attempt-murder charge,” she said.

Garson suggested he might need some time to decide the motion after the arguments, but made it clear, should he deny the motion, Barnes should have witnesses ready on Monday morning.

Barnes has suggested she may call as many as 16 defence witnesses. The first three would be police officers involved in the investigation.

She said it’s not certain Panovski will testify, but even if he does, she said she did not want to call him to testify first.

“I think, particularly given his age and the time that has passed, that he needs an opportunity to spend some time reading his materials, getting prepared,” Barnes said.

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Panovski had a jury trial in Goderich in 2018 at which he testified. He appealed the guilty verdicts in 2021 and the case was ordered to be heard in St. Thomas a year ago. Panovski opted for a judge-alone trial days before an Elgin County jury was to be chosen.

The retrial is entering its eighth week. Garson said he has taken more than 460 pages of notes. More than 200 exhibits have been filed during the Crown’s case.

Assistant Crown attorney Elizabeth Brown closed the prosecution’s case on Thursday afternoon after Barnes cross-examined the investigating officer, OPP Staff Sgt. Phil Hordijk, for two days this week.

The thrust of her cross-examination was to suggest police had “tunnel vision,” narrowing their investigation to just Panovski. She has tried to build her argument around 10-year old police notes and asking witnesses to jog their memories for specifics.

There were several times when the witness was asked to leave the witness box for legal wrangling. There have been moments of courtroom tension and bickering. Garson has remained level-headed and kept the case on course.

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But even the judge showed signs of lost patience. At one point Thursday, Barnes returned to police notes surrounding the interview and conversations with Panovski’s estranged son Tony by other officers.

This was not a new area to explore. Garson assured Barnes he had extensive notes on what the son told the police, what the police thought of the son and that at one point he was a person of interest, his interviews, his follow-up interviews, that he detested his father and that he was not called as a Crown witness.

“We have been through this again and again and again. So, I need to know where you are going again, because in my view, it’s been exhaustively covered,” the judge said.

“I think your honour has got everything,” Barnes said in reply.

Garson told Barnes the bounds of cross-examination “enjoys great leeway, but only in the boundaries of relevance in repetition, those are the two areas where I feel I can intervene.”

Barnes suggested she may call Panovski’s son as a witness if she presents a case for the defence.

The retrial continues Friday.

jsims@postmedia.com

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