Anyone interested in the trial of Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien on charges he conspired to keep an opponent out of the last mayoral race can follow the thing via twitter, e-mail, text message or someone’s live-blogging, thanks to a court ruling.
Judge J. Douglas Cunningham accepted an application by the Ottawa Citizen, but -oddly enough - rejected an application by CBC that would have allowed streaming of live audio and video.
The broadcaster offered no explanation of why it waited until the last moment to bring a motion in a trial it has known about for 14 months and did not even meet the minimum of 15 days notice for such motions.
The ruling is the first in the country, apparently. Cunningham also warned that his ruling applied only to this trial. He said other concerns might be raised in a jury trial about such open communication.
-srbp-
