Court fed up with ‘obtuse’ questions to witnesses

Stephen Hopkins’ lengthy cross-examination tested the court’s patience Monday, May 16, with the judge cautioning him on his “obtuse” and irrelevant questions and giving him 10 more minutes to wrap it all up.

Hopkins — who is self-re-presenting in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court on charges of breaking into a St. John’s home and confining, sexually assaulting and threatening a 17-year-old girl who lived there — began his crossexamination of the Crown’s final witness, a member of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary’s forensic identifications services unit , last week. The officer had been tasked with taking photos of the complainant’s injuries, which included a cut to her lip and abrasions on her body.

Hopkins questioned the officer on everything but the photos, asking her pointed and often confusing questions about the chain of command in the unit, the duties and training of forensics officers, her understanding of different members’ roles, scheduling and her use of certain words in her responses, often repeating the same questions in different wordings.

“How much longer do you anticipate your cross-examination being?” Justice Donald Burrage asked Hopkins after about an hour and 15 minutes Monday.

“Two hours,” Hopkins replied.

Burrage said he wouldn’t allow it.

“I really am loathe to interrupt you,” the judge told Hopkins. “The court realizes you are self-represented and has been cutting you a great deal of slack. I would not allow a lawyer to proceed the way you are proceeding. I would long have reined them in.

“Unless I hear something new and relevant, I’m going to have to do what I’m loathe to do, and that’s end your cross-examination.”

“This is a disgrace,” Hopkins responded.

Burrage interrupted the cross-examination several times when Hopkins suggested investigators had conspired against him to charge him with the crimes, as he has been doing since the start of his trial. Last week, Hopkins alleged another police officer had Photoshopped a bruise in photos taken of him on the day in question.

“This is well-trodden ground, well-beaten ground, a horse that has been beaten to death. I don’t know how many more adjectives I can use,” the judge said.

Hopkins had asked the judge at the start of court Monday for a few more days to prepare the rest of his cross-examination, saying he had realized he needed to “restrategize.”

“It may be apparent to the court that I’ve been having some difficulty extracting information from the witness. I think it’s fair to say there’s been some withholding of information,” Hopkins said. “Clearly any reasonable person could not have foreseen the difficulties experienced by me, which are not due to a lack of diligence on my part.”

Burrage declined to grant Hopkins a delay, telling him counsel doesn’t always get the answers they want from witnesses.

“Some of your questions, quite frankly, have been so obtuse, (witnesses and the court) have had difficulty comprehending.”

During a recess, Hopkins asked if reporters in the courtroom were members of the media or a “fan base.”

The trial will resume May 26, when Hopkins plans to challenge the grounds on which the RNC obtained a warrant to take a sample of his DNA. Burrage will rule on that issue before Hopkins begins calling his own witnesses.