Acquittals and dropped criminal charges for group of Muskrat Falls protesters
Posted Feb 27, 2020 08:44:05 PM.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Five people have been cleared of criminal charges after being arrested for demonstrating at the Muskrat Falls dam site in Labrador more than three years ago.
Lawyer Mark Gruchy says his clients Marjorie Goudie, Tony Wolfrey and Peggy Blake were acquitted at a trial in Happy Valley-Goose Bay provincial court this week on charges of breaching a court-ordered injunction.
Charges against Emily Wolfrey and Charlotte Wolfrey were withdrawn, and Gruchy says the group was relieved by the outcome.
The five people were among a group who were arrested after they occupied the project site over concerns of possible methylmercury contamination in wild foods downstream from the dam.
Gruchy says the judge found that the Crown failed to establish identity at the trial.
Others charged for breaching the injunction are still awaiting resolutions to different legal proceedings, including a number of Gruchy’s clients who will be sentenced for civil contempt sometime this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2020.
The Canadian Press
