By Garett Williams
Wednesday December 05, 2007

Assistant Crown attorney Peter Keen made his closing arguments to the jury that will decide the outcome of Bruce and Donna Montague’s criminal trial Tuesday.

He began his address by saying the defence’s argument is based on red herrings, saying the missing money doesn’t matter, ignorance of the law is not a defence, the registrations Montague presented were not valid and his defence based on right to property doesn’t apply.

Rather than dealing with each charge individually, Keen addressed each indictment by type.

He said there is no question Montague was in possession of firearms without a licence and asked the jury to return a verdict of guilty on those charges.

He expected the jury would have more of a struggle dealing with the trafficking charges, which relate to selling unregistered firearms without a licence. The responsibility of registering a gun lies on the seller, Keen said, and although Montague testified he thought it was the buyer’s obligation, ignorance is not a lawful excuse.

Link: http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/...