Evidence debated in letter bomb case

WINNIPEG A lawyer for a man accused of sending letter bombs, including one that went off and seriously injured a lawyer, is questioning the validity of warrants used in the investigation.

Jeremy Kostiuk told a provincial court judge that it appears Winnipeg police left out important information when they applied for warrants against Guido Amsel.

He said it appears police did not mention that tests pointing to explosive residue on Amsel’s hands were preliminary and still needed to be verified in a lab.

The judge is hearing arguments about the evidence this week in advance of Amsel’s trial, which is slated to start next month.

Amsel is facing five counts of attempted murder and several explosives-related charges after letter bombs were sent to his ex-wife and two law firms in 2015.

Maria Mitousis, a lawyer who had represented Amsel’s former wife in the couple’s divorce, lost her right hand and suffered other injuries when one of the packages detonated.

Kostiuk asked Judge Tracey Lord to allow him to cross-examine police officers on how they gathered evidence and documented the investigation.

“There are glaring questions, in my submission, as to the good faith of the Winnipeg police,” Kostiuk told court Monday.

He said the court must determine whether the left-out information in the application for warrants “was a good-faith accident or negligence or deceit.”

Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft said the police officer who applied for the warrant in August 2015 did so based on the information he had at the time. Only the initial test was available. The lab results came later.

“The (initial) test is what he did know at the time,” Vanderhooft said.