In a historic verdict, Justice Fletcher Dawson has found Keith and Marisa Hobbs, and co-accused Mary Voss not guilty of extortion. Following the verdict, Marisa and Mary could be seen smiling and almost jumping with excitement in the courtroom.
Justice Dawson told the court “I harbour a reasonable doubt about the guilt of each of the three accused persons. I am simply not sure that the threat alleged in the indictment was ever made in an intentional attempt to extort the alleged victim to buy a house for Mary Voss.”
Dawson went on to say that some of the witness testimony including the alleged victim’s and Craig Loverin’s was unreliable. However, he also noted that Hobbs’s testimony was also at times unreliable and painted Hobbs in a more favourable light.
Dawson’s decision was 150 pages and he read around 60 of those pages to the packed courtroom.
Below is video of Defence lawyers Brian Greenspan and George Joseph
Below is video of Crown attorney Peter Keen
The lawyer for the Hobbs couple, Brian Greenspan said on their behalf, “I can only say they were confident that this day would come that the allegations were always allegations they denied. There was a great deal of press and attention paid to those allegations that harmed them in many ways in the public and community and those allegations have been demonstrated to not be truthful or accurate.”
“Justice Dawson summarized the case with one simple phrase, it was an attempt by the investigation and the prosecution to put square pegs into round holes and that really summarizes this trial,” Greenspan added.
He goes on to say, “I don’t think anyone understands the strains of being wrongly charged with a criminal offence and the pressures that exist on a daily basis. It’s been a long time and this result has been a long time coming.”
