November 23, 2009 Hamilton Spectator
A Crown lawyer who is representing the Ontario government and the OPP in a $7-million lawsuit tried to chip away today at the credibility of the Caledonia man who claims police abandoned his family after a failed raid and tense standoff with native protesters occupying the former Douglas Creek Estates.
Lawyer David Feliciant cross-examined David Brown, 42, about the extent of his use and abuse of illicit drugs and over-the-counter medications during the early months of the native occupation in April and May of 2006.
Brown admitted to using cocaine a couple of times a week, to drinking heavily and to taking stimulants such as daytime cold preparations and ephedrine in order to stay awake. The plaintiff said he was afraid to fall asleep because his home was inside the native barricades on Argyle Street and adjacent to the disputed land.
Brown repeated several times that “OPP were not allowed (by the protesters or their superior officers) to go there” while the barricades were up on Argyle Street.
He said the protesters harassed and intimidated his family with almost daily threats to burn down their house or occupy their property next.
He said OPP stood passively by while witnessing extreme acts of lawlessness by the protesters, such as barricading the road with a downed hydro tower and jackknifed transport truck, burning down the Stirling Street rail bridge, setting fire to hundreds of tires at the Sixth Line and tossing a vehicle off an overpass onto Highway 6, all of which served to reinforce his fear and paranoia.
Brown said he realized he could not rely on provincial police to intervene if something should happen to him or his family.
“So, you engaged in cocaine?” asked Feliciant.
“Yes, I also indicated I used ephedrine and daytime cold-medicine pills,” replied Brown.
He kept his cocaine use discreet at first, said Brown, but some time in 2007 admitted to his wife, Dana Chatwell, that he had an addiction problem.
Feliciant’s cross-examination of Brown continues Tuesday.