Conservative party lawyer Arthur Hamilton cried foul after it was revealed pollster Frank Graves 鈥� asked to leave the courtroom this week so lawyers could confer with the judge 鈥� had examined the Twitter feeds of journalists who were tweeting from inside.
Hamilton produced screen shots from Graves鈥檚 Twitter feed to prove he鈥檇 been snooping on the courtroom chat.
鈥淗e did. Hehe,鈥� Graves wrote to someone who asked if he checked Twitter from outside the courtroom.
But the social-media mischief did not amuse Hamilton.
鈥淭his is not a light matter,鈥� the Conservative lawyer said.
Steven Shrybman, who represents the eight Canadians who are challenging the election results in their six ridings, shot back, taking Hamilton to task for his treatment of Graves during a cross-examination.
Hamilton aggressively grilled Graves, of Ekos Research, this week over his past donations to the federal Liberals and inconsistencies in prior court affidavits submitted as part of the case.
He was trying to call into question the credibility of Graves as a key witness in the legal bid to overturn Conservative victories in the six closely contested ridings.
Shrybman accused Hamilton of crossing the line and abusing the judicial process.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine a more egregious form of character assassination,鈥� Shrybman said.
鈥淲hat there was, was taking almost an hour of this court鈥檚 time to allow Mr. Hamilton a platform to assail Mr. Graves鈥� integrity because 鈥� the assertion is 鈥� that he didn鈥檛 remember the precise nature of a political contribution that he made six years ago.鈥�
Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley decided the Twitter incident does not preclude Graves from being a witness, although he cautioned it may colour how he views the evidence.
鈥淚 do not consider that this incident is a matter that would lead me to disqualify Mr. Graves as an expert witness,鈥� Mosley said.
