Cipriano mistrial blamed on 'Orazaddi'-baiting

Justice of the Peace Susan Hilton has this afternoon declared a mistrial in the case of Rita Cipriano, accused of voting irregularities during the 2006 municipal election.

Justice Hilton said she had no choice but to halt the trial after Cipriano's lawyer, Donald Orazietti, questioned her competence and objectivity.

"I have no choice but to declare this trial a mistrial," Hilton said. "No matter what my decision, that's what will be remembered."

The Crown is now expected to ask that Cipriano receive a new trial before a new justice.

Today's announcement followed an extraordinary morning exchange between Hilton and Orazietti that showed few signs of the civility and respect for which Sault Ste. Marie's courts of justice are known.

Cipriano sat quietly with her husband, Frank Tridico, while Hilton and Orazietti argued loudly over pieces of photographic evidence.

Hilton, who more commonly presides in Barrie, repeatedly mangled the pronounciation of Orazietti's name and at one point today, questioned where the 39-year veteran of the local bar obtained his law degree.

"I don't know where you went to law school, but I'm really starting to wonder," said the justice as Orazietti attempted to explain why he wanted to ask Cipriano's mother to identify the subject of some photos.

"What?" exclaimed Orazietti loudly. "Pardon me?"

"You heard what I said, sir," Hilton responded derisively. "I don't know where you went to law school but I'm really starting to wonder."

"I think you're asking me where I went to law school? Like that is abusive. Very abusive," shot back Orazietti, who obtained his law degree in 1968 from Queen's University and is also a Queen's Counsel, a former Crown attorney and the father of Sault MPP David Orazietti.

Orazietti's four-decade legal career has included arguing some landmark cases including:

- Regina v. Ross & Leclaire, in which the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with Orazietti that detainees had a right to a lawyer before being subjected to a police lineup.

- Regina v. Ross, which established in 1985 that a sealed affidavit used to obtain a search warrant could be made public.

- Regina v. Neumeier et. al., which established that indigent accused persons are entitled to legal counsel and that the province was obligated to fund legal aid.

After a brief pause following the questioning of his legal education, Orazietti then continued more calmly with his explanation.

"I'm just saying I would like to sort of put the cart before the horse, so to speak, and have Mrs. Cipriano identify the subject of these photos while she is still on the stand, rather than ask her to step down, have the person who took the photos sworn in and testify about them, then have her come back yet again."

"Can I do that? Is that okay with the court?" Orazietti asked, his voice rising again slightly.

"Not the way you're speaking to the court right now," Hilton answered, once again with a derisive smile. "I just asked you to qualify the photos. I didn't think it would be this much trouble."

Throughout the proceedings today, Hilton repeatedly addressed the veteran Sault lawyer as "Orazaddi" and other wildly incorrect variants of the surname that's a household word in this part of the province, not only from the family's political and business activities, but also from the waterfront statue of legendary dog musher Billy Orazietti.

This morning, Crown Attorney Glen Wasyliniuk questioned Rita Cipriano's mother her about where her daughter lived at the time of the election in 2006.

Rita Cipriano is charged with voting in a place other than where she's entitled to vote and with providing false information to an election officer.

Cipriano's mother today testified that Rita lived with her in the family home when Frank was away teaching and lived with him in a suite at an upper floor of a Queen Street East building when he was in town on a break.

Mrs. Cipriano identified the photographs that ignited the blow up between Justice Hilton and Orazietti as depicting Frank and Rita's suite at that time of the election.

She said her daughter was living there with Frank during the election, but she kept her room at home for when Frank went back to teaching in Windsor.

When court resuned at 1:45 p.m. today after a lunch break, Crown Attorney Glen Wasyliniuk surprised courtroom observers by not calling his next witness.

"Just before the break, my colleague, Mr. Orazietti made some comments in regards to a mistrial," said Wasyliniuk. "If it's okay with the court, I think I'll let him talk about that now."

Justice Hilton nodded in the affirmative.

Orazietti then said he had thought about the courtroom strains over the noon hour, not without a great deal of concern for his client.

"I do believe I've been mistreated and abused by the court," Orazietti said. "I have always taken pride in my conduct before the courts."

The lawyer briefly outlined his long legal career, including his time as Crown attorney for Sault Ste. Marie and his representation of clients before every level of court in Canada.

"Never have I been treated like this," Orazietti said. "But, I think for the sake of my client, I can continue and will see this through to the end."

Hilton then asked Wasyliniuk for his opinion.

Wasyliniuk agreed that the trial should continue.

The justice of the peace didn't.

"I'm very sorry it's got to this point," said Hilton after rendering her decision to declare a mistrial.

"I feel that I have been baited and goaded by Mr. Orazietti," she said. "I don't know why."

The justice said that, although she had never been to a court as prestigious as the Supreme Court of Canada, she could assure the people gathered in her court that she'd never been treated so badly as she was by Orazietti during this trial.

Orazietti replied that he never intended to be discourteous to the court and was sorry if that was how she interpreted his efforts to defend his client's rights.

On Tuesday, Hilton made Orazietti apologize publicly for an exasperated remark he made after she ruled on whether a compact disc contained original data from a digital tape recorder used to interview Cipriano.

Yesterday, Hilton decided that a taped statement given by Cipriano to investigators was inadmissible, prohibiting its use by Wasyliniuk.