John Nuttall, Amanda Korody entrapment proceedings begin
Guilty conviction will not be entered until judge decides if police entrapped the couple accused of terrorism
The lead investigator of an RCMP sting wanted a pair of terrorism suspects out of their home and away from the distractions of drugs and video games to keep them focused on their bomb plot, a court heard Monday.
Staff Sgt. Vaz Kassam testified on Monday that removing John Nuttall and Amanda Korody from "their element" would give police a better assessment of the couple's commitment to threatening public safety.
"A person that is committed to something will carry (through) with the scenario," Kassam told B.C. Supreme Court on Monday. "However, if they're not motivated or they don't want to do something they'll say, 'Look, I'm out,' or make up excuses."
In June, a jury found John Nuttall and Amanda Korody guilty for plotting a 2013 Canada Day attack on the B.C. legislature.
The married couple was found guilty of one count each of conspiring to commit murder and possessing explosives for the benefit of on behalf of a terrorist organization. The jury's guilty verdicts can be stayed if the judge finds entrapment or other abuses of process.
Defence says pair were manipulated
The second stage of their trial began Monday with defence lawyers arguing the RCMP entrapped the pair through a months-long undercover operation.
They maintained their plan to detonate the bombs at the legislature would not have materialized had they not been pushed by police. Their lawyers described the couple as former heroin addicts with money issues who were given a purpose when befriended by RCMP officers, who gave them money, clothes and spiritual guidance.
The Crown argued the couple planned to kill innocent people and were fully aware of what they were doing.
Korody's lawyer Mark Jette suggested to Kassam that police removed his client and her husband from the house because otherwise "they weren't motivated to do much of anything except play video games."
"It sounds to me like your assessment is that if they were at home they were unfocused and unmotivated and using drugs but if you got them out of the house you might be able to motivate them to do something," Jette suggested.
Kassam disagreed, saying "I think it's more of a commitment level as to how serious they are."
Kassam was appointed primary investigator in charge of the undercover file on June 24, 2013, one week before Nuttall and Korody were arrested. He testified that when he took over the case the other officers appeared frustrated that the suspects weren't moving forward with their bomb plot as predicted.
During the trial, more than 100 hours of audio and video evidence, captured by undercover RCMP officers in an elaborate sting operation, were presented to the court.
The officers posed as terrorists and befriended the couple in the months leading up to the alleged plot to attack the legislature in Victoria using pressure cooker bombs.
With files from CBC