Lawyer accuses cop of assassinating MP's character

Peter Goldring's lawyer accused the police officer who arrested the Edmonton MPon a charge of refusing to give a breath sample ofassassinating the 68-year-old's character.

Dinos Bottos told ajudge Tuesdaynot to believe the evidence offered by Const. Trevor Shelrudbecausehe made toomany mistakes during the arrest.

Shelrud's testimonythatGoldringtried tonegotiate himself out of the situationis complete and utter nonsense, Bottos said during final arguments.

Bottos also said the Crown hasn't proved Goldring actually refused to take a breathalyzer test, saying the MP was simply trying to figure out how to handle the situation.

But theCrown prosecutor saidGoldring was asked several times to give a breath sample, but he refused to leave his vehicle,locking the door and refusing to roll down the window.

The Crown also defended Shelrud, sayinghis evidence wasfrank, forthright and professional.

Outside the courthouse, Goldring told reporters the trial is aboutcivil liberties.

"It's not just about my civil liberties," he said."It's about your civil liberties too.

"By taking it through this exhaustive process, I'm confident that at the end of the day there will be lessons here that we'll be able to learn and move forward with."

The judge will likely give a decision in about a month.

Goldring was charged after he was pulled over by Edmonton police early on Dec. 4, 2011.

During histrial, Goldring testified that he had one or two glasses of wine at a political fundraiser earlier that evening, and one beer before leaving a northside sports bar.