Starting Monday, a judge will begin to look at evidence to determine whether London Mayor Joe Fontana will stand trial on three criminal charges laid in 2012.
Chris Sherrin, associate professor of law at Western University says the hearing will examine the Crown's evidence against the mayor.
“The purpose of a preliminary inquiry is to determine whether or not the crown has sufficient evidence to justify sending the accused for trial.”
The hearing is related to charges of fraud under $5,000, breach of trust by a public official and uttering forged documents laid by the RCMP in November 2012.
The charges relate to events in 2005, when the mayor was a federal cabinet minister and his son had a wedding reception at the Marconi Club.
Following an investigation the RCMP accused the mayor of using a $1,700 federal check to pay the deposit on a room. Neither that claim, nor any of the charges have been proven in court.
Amid mounting pressure to resign last November, Fontana made one of his few public statements about the criminal charges.
“I am innocent. I'm innocent and I have been given a mandate by the people of London to discharge my responsibilities and obligations.”
Fontana’s defence lawyer Gord Cudmore also cautioned against a rush to judgement in the court of public opinion.
“The appropriate place to answer these charges is in a courtroom. And that's where we are going to do it.”
Little evidence is likely to be heard from the defence Monday though, as most evidence during pre-trial hearings is from the Crown and the defence seldom reveals its strategy before a trial.
In addition, any evidence presented will be subject to a publication ban.
Sherrin explains “The point of the publication ban is to ensure that members of the public who might ultimately serve on a jury don't hear evidence that they may not be entitled to hear at the trial.”
