o'brien trial

Liveblog: Larry O’Brien is not guilty and can stay on as mayor

As promised/threatened, ITQ will be back in Courtroom 36 this morning for closing arguments.  The show gets underway at 9:30 a.m. — yes, that’s half an hour earlier than usual, but Michael Edelson practically pinky swore that he’d be able to finish up today if we started bright and early, in which case it will totally be worth it. Not that we’re not enjoying The Trial of Terry Kilrea, but brevity, as they say, is the soul of wit. (Why do lawyers never seem to believe ITQ when she says that?)

Yes, ITQ is headed back to the Ottawa courthouse this morning for what could turn out to be the first of several days devoted to the defence of Larry O’Brien after the judge rejected the argument that Ottawa’s mayor-in-limbo can’t possibly have broken the law because even if he had offered an appointment to a rival candidate — not that he’s admitting he did any such thing, mind you —  well, that’s just politics, and not a potentially criminal offence.  Yeah, the judge didn’t think much of that line of reasoning either, as it turned out.

That is, unless Team Larry’s lawyers have another plot twist in store for fans of Ottawa’s smash hit municapolitical reality show thriller:

Seriously, y’all, this is going to be fun, so check back at 10am for all the legal wrangling — and, depending on what the judge decides, what could be a fascinating morning of political philosophizing.

The fun starts up again at around 2 p.m.

That’s right, ITQ will be back in Courtroom 36 for what may be the last full day of testimony in Ottawa’s very own Trial Of The Half-Decade At The Very Least, lured off the Hill for the day by what could be her last chance ever to liveblog legendary Conservative fixer, O’Brien crony and recently self-outed voice of sanity on drug policy John Reynolds.

Up til now, ITQ had been able to resist the siren song of the Larry O’Brien trial. But with so many Hill staffers — and the occasional minister — turning up on the witness list, not to mention the historic ruling by the judge to allow journalists to liveblog and twitter from the courtroom — it was inevitable that she would eventually be lured into the maw. Anyway, with PMO appointments czar Dave Penner slated to testify this afternoon, it turns out that today’s the day that ITQ goes hyperlocal.