ABBOTSFORD, BC – The Crown and the defence both rested their cases yesterday, with closing arguments scheduled to take place today in a jury
trial against three animal rights activists for their role in exposing animal cruelty in 2019 at Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford, BC. The trial has been shortened as a result of the court’s refusal to allow evidence of animal cruelty or testimony from any expert defence witnesses.
Yesterday, BC Supreme Court Justice Frits Verhoeven acquitted the activists on all but five of their charges after the Crown prosecutors rested their case. Roy Sasano, Amy Soranno, and Nick Schafer still face a total of five indictable offences of Break and Enter and Mischief.
The publication ban in effect during the trial will not apply to closing arguments. There will be a press conference at the Abbotsford courthouse today, Thursday, July 7 at 9am, followed by closing arguments scheduled to begin at 9:30am. The media are encouraged to attend and report on the proceedings.
What: Excelsior 4 press conference, followed by closing arguments in their trial
When: Thursday, July 7: Press conf 9am / Closing arguments 9:30am-12:30pm
Where: BC Supreme Court, 32375 Veterans Way, Abbotsford, BC
“We started three years ago with four of us facing trial on a total of twenty-one indictable offences, and years in prison hanging over our heads,” said Amy Soranno, one of the activists currently on trial. “The whistleblower who turned over evidence of animal cruelty to authorities had all of his charges dropped a couple of months ago, and now that the Crown’s evidence has been fully reviewed, the jury is being asked to decide on only five charges.” A fourth activist, Geoff Regier, had his charges dropped in May, after a pretrial hearing. Together, the four activists have been dubbed the Excelsior 4.
The Excelsior 4 trial began on June 27, and last Wednesday Justice Verhoeven made a ruling that blocked the defence from showing the jury any
video footage of animal cruelty at Excelsior, including the footage the activists are being tried for exposing. The judge also prevented the defence from arguing that the hog farm had engaged in unlawful animal abuse, severely curtailing the activists’ case.
As a result, the defence submitted no evidence and called none of their expert witnesses. “Without the ability to enter video evidence of animal abuse, the legs were cut out from under several of the defences we had been planning to raise,” said Leo Salloum, Amy Soranno’s legal counsel.
During the trial, Crown prosecutors painted the owners of Excelsior Hog Farm, the Binnendyk family, as victims, and worked vigorously to prevent the defence from showing evidence of animal cruelty to the jury. On cross-examination, farm co-owner Calvin Binnendyk revealed that he was completely unfamiliar with the laws pertaining to the treatment of farmed animals, such as the Criminal Code and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCAA). Binnendyk was also unable to confirm whether or not he had abused animals under his care, per the PCAA, since he had never read the law.
The case will likely be sent to the jury for deliberation on Friday.
The Excelsior 4 trial comes more than three years after the exposure of animal cruelty at the Abbotsford hog farm, yet Excelsior has never had to answer for the video footage clearly depicting animal abuse. To learn more about the Excelsior 4 case—how industry has avoided accountability, how the police mishandled evidence, and how the Crown is criminalizing activists—watch this 7-minute video:
https://youtu.be/FJGAI02SWzw. Additional information can also be found at the Excelsior 4 website:
https://excelsior4.org.
