That was the position taken Thursday by both the Crown and defence during their closing arguments on the final day of Alexandre Ethier's trial on three charges.
"This case is solely about identification," his lawyer Jennifer Tremblay-Hall said, reminding the court the onus is on the Crown to prove Ethier is the robber seen on a security video.
Prosecutor David Didiodato concurred, arguing that when pieces of the evidence are put together Ethier is the person in the video and should be found guilty.
Ethier, 25, has pleaded not guilty to three charges stemming from the Aug. 28, 2018 armed robbery of the Esso station, located on Highway 108, in the city.
He is charged with stealing $176 cash, four packs of cigarettes and six lottery tickets while armed with a knife, carrying a weapon to commit an offence and threatening bodily harm.
During the trial, which began Tuesday, Superior Court Justice Ian McMillan heard testimony from a number of people, including Crown witnesses who identified Ethier as the person in the video.
These witnesses included the store clerk, the accused's mother and an Ontario Provincial Police detective.
Tremblay-Hall described Austin Kirby, the 22-year-old station attendant as "an honest, but mistaken witness."
His evidence was based on voice recognition -- he identified the robber as a "pretty regular customer," but couldn't say he was 100-per-cent sure Ethier was the person who robbed him, she said.
Almost immediately after police arrived on the scene, Kirby was told who the suspect was and he later did a search on the Internet, the defence said.
It was repeatedly enforced that Ethier robbed him, which undermines the reliability of his evidence, Tremblay-Hall maintained.
Didiodato countered that the court shouldn't underestimate the man's evidence.
He described the robber, and indicated he recognized the voice as a regular customer who came into the station two or three times a week.
Kirby didn't know his name, but knew his voice and recognized the truck he associated with this person, the assistant Crown attorney said.
Tremblay-Hall also suggested the identity evidence of Joanne Michaud, her client's mother, was "honest, but mistaken."
The Elliot Lake resident appeared quite confident that the video showed her son when examined by the Crown, but was significantly less sure during cross-examination, she said.
Didiodato noted that Michaud has known the accused all his life, and identified him by the way he walks and stands, his build, his lips and hands.
"She identified the person as Mr. Ethier, but didn't say with 100 per cent certainty, but said she believed it was him," the prosecutor said. "She couldn't be 100 per cent sure because she couldn't see the whole face."
Tremblay-Hall attacked the testimony of Const. Brandan Leeson, an Ontario Provincial Police detective, who was involved in the investigation.
His evidence was "embellished" and he displayed "tunnel vision" and "wasn't objective" from the beginning.
The five-year officer had agreed the nature of the offence, which involved a black truck, assisted with the identity, she said.
"It solidified in his mind that the man on the video was Mr. Ethier," Tremblay-Hall told the court.
Leeson is not only an unreliable witness, but he was so consumed by tunnel vision that he couldn't see if it was someone else, she said.
Didiodato countered that the detective never indicated that he used the truck to identify Ethier.
"That's not what he said," the Crown stated, adding Leeson had said when he heard about the truck he thought Ethier might be the driver.
Leeson had spoken to the accused eight days prior to the incident, and provided details what he looked like on Aug. 20 -- scruffy, unkempt facial hair, long face.
"He gave his opinion on Ethier based on details."
Didiodato said the Crown isn't required to prove motive, but there is strong circumstantial evidence of one.
Ethier was suffering from a drug addiction and desperate for money to fuel it, he said.
The prosecutor pointed to the accused's ownership of the truck as further circumstantial evidence.
Tremblay-Hall said there was no DNA, fingerprints or knife connecting her client to the robbery -- nothing except his truck, which doesn't mean he was there, and is a tenuous link.
Facial features aren't clear in the video, she said, adding the face, hair colour or facial shape can't be recognized.
"There are too many frailties in the identification," Tremblay-Hall said, and based on the evidence the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ethier is the robber.
McMillan will give his decision on Dec. 13.
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