‘It was a weird place to see bullets’: witness
The trial involving a man charged three years ago with attempting to bring an explosive device on a commercial flight at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport was suspended almost as soon as it began on Monday because defence lawyers in the case received lastminute evidence.
Antony Piazza, 74, faces four charges in all stemming from his arrest, on Oct. 27, 2013, at the airport, after bullets and other items that could have served as a detonator were found hidden in the handle of his carry-on suitcase. The trial at the Montreal courthouse, presided over by Quebec Court Judge Thierry Nadon, heard from one witness on Monday, but as the second witness, René Fournier, was about to testify, Piazza’s lawyers, Charles Benmouyal and Gaetan Bourassa, raised an objection.
They told Nadon they were informed that Fournier, an expert in chemistry, conducted experiments with “similar materials” found in Piazza’s suitcase after he testified in the preliminary inquiry of the case in 2014. Based on those experiments, Fournier was able to create an explosion and he recorded a video of his experiment. As prosecutor Alexandre Gautier later explained to Nadon, the chemist only informed the Crown of his more recent experiments before the trial began Monday morning and he, in turn, informed the defence attorneys. Benmouyal argued it was too late for the Crown to bring such evidence to the trial, in part, because the defence plans to bring forward its own expert witness who prepared for the trial based on Fournier’s original experiments. Benmouyal asked the judge to limit Fournier’s testimony to what he knew back in 2014.
Gautier argued that he can’t ask Fournier to limit his testimony if he now possesses more knowledge on the subject at hand.
“It’s part of the science,” said Gautier, who suggested a postponement, allowing for the defence’s expert witness to review the new evidence, as a potential remedy.
One factor Nadon has to consider is that the Supreme Court of Canada recently set new rules with the goal of ending lengthy delays for trials.
“At some point, isn’t it time to stop this disclosure at the last minute?” Nadon asked Gautier while reminding him the trial date had been set for several months. “For me, it is beyond belief.”
Nadon then asked both sides to research previous cases so they can continue making arguments on the issue Tuesday morning.
A lawyer who represented Piazza in 2013 said the accused claims the materials found in the handle of his suitcase were planted there by another person who owed him money. And the first witness to testify in the trial, Carmine Monteferrante, a Montreal police officer, told Nadon that Piazza appeared surprised when he unscrewed the handle on his suitcase and pulled “five or six” bullets out of one of the telescopic tubes connected to the handle and then a wire, a disposable pen and blades from a utility knife from inside the second tube.
The discovery ended up grounding 16 flights at the airport while security tried to determine the extent of the threat. The accused faces four charges, including the possession of an explosive device and attempting to board a civilian flight with an explosive substance. One of the charges carries a maximum 14-year prison term. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Monteferrante, a uniformed officer who was working at the airport at the time, was assigned to examine the suitcase after an employee with Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) noticed something unusual about Piazza’s carry-on suitcase while it was being X-rayed and as Piazza was approaching U.S. customs at the airport. Piazza was about to board an Air Canada flight to California.
The CATSA employee pressed a “panic button,” and Monteferrante was called in minutes later. Monteferrante said he looked at an X-ray image of the suitcase and determined immediately that there were “five or six” bullets hidden in the telescopic handle.
Passengers on planes are not allowed to bring bullets on carry-on luggage and they are not allowed to conceal them, either. Monteferrante said this caused him to probe further, adding he noticed the two screws connecting the handle to two telescopic tubes had been tampered with. He said he removed the handle, and found the bullets wrapped in cellophane.
“It was a weird place to see bullets,” Monteferrante said. He said he initially believed he was dealing with someone who was trying to sneak concealed bullets onto a flight. He said his concerns grew considerably after he looked inside the other telescopic tube and found the pen, blades and a wire.
“It was like disbelief,” Monteferrante said of his initial reaction. “I just found bullets and now I see these other things.”
Gautier then asked Monteferrante if Piazza, who was standing nearby as his suitcase was being searched, registered any reaction to what was being pulled out of its handle.
“He made a facial expression of surprise,” Monteferrante said.